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As violence continues in the Gaza Strip, the small Christian community sheltering at the Catholic Church of the Holy Family is facing a grim and uncertain future. On July 17, a tank shell struck the parish compound, killing three people and injuring 15 — including the parish priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli.
Fr. Gabriel, a missionary from Argentina with the Institute of the Incarnate Word, shared his experience in a YouTube message recorded just two days later. His voice, though calm, could not hide the trauma of what had occurred. “We hadn’t even finished the greeting when a big explosion was heard,” he recalled, describing how he had just encountered 19-year-old Suhail when the shell struck.
The explosion tore through walls and ceilings. “Screams, dust, debris ... everything happened very quickly,” Fr. Gabriel said. Though wounded in the leg and side, he rushed to assist others, including Suhail, who had been hit in the side by shrapnel. The young man remains stable following major surgery.
In a follow-up message shared with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the priest reported that another seriously injured person is still hospitalized, though slowly improving. “The conditions in the hospital are deplorable,” he said. “Most of the hospitals in the strip have been destroyed.”
In fact, a message from Caritas asserted that two of the three who died in the attack could have been helped had the hospitals had basic supplies.
Miracle in tragedy
The numbers are stark. Gaza’s already overstretched medical system has collapsed under months of bombardment, with limited access to supplies, electricity, or trained staff. For the roughly 1,000 Christians in Gaza -- most of them now seeking refuge within the walls of the parish — and for the population as a whole, the situation is beyond description.
“We’ve had close bombardments, with some shrapnel bursts,” Fr. Gabriel told ACN. “Those who have lived through them know that shrapnel, sadly, not only makes noise, but also injures and kills.”
Though media coverage of Gaza’s suffering is often broad and geopolitical, the situation on the ground for Christian civilians — caught between war and faith — is deeply personal. Many have chosen to remain at the Church of the Holy Family, where daily life continues around prayer, shared meals, and the ever-present threat of more attacks.
Miraculously, more weren’t killed. Fr. Gabriel noted that had the shell landed slightly differently — just yards from the church courtyard, a usual gathering space — dozens more lives might have been lost.
In a message sent to ACN by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, gratitude was expressed for the ongoing emergency aid provided to Christians in Gaza and the West Bank. “Let us thank each and every one of you for your love and dedication to the Holy Land, especially in these difficult times,” it read.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception” (CCC 2270). In a region where life is fragile and loss is constant, this teaching becomes not only theological, but urgent.
