Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged Israeli forces struck the Holy Family Church, blaming the incident on "stray ammunition"

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has shelled the only Catholic church in Gaza, reportedly killing three people and injuring several more, Pope Leo XIV has said in a telegram to the Holy Family Catholic Parish, situated in the Palestinian territory. Israel has acknowledged the deadly incident, attributing it to "stray ammunition."

The escalation between several armed groups, including Hamas, and Israel began in October of 2023, after the militant group launched a surprise assault in the south of the country, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.

West Jerusalem responded with a massive military campaign in Gaza, which has involved heavy aerial and artillery bombardments and claimed the lives of at least 57,000 people, according to the local Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Israel's heavy-handed tactics have increasingly drawn condemnation worldwide.

Responding to the attack on Thursday, the Pope called for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, as quoted by the Vatican News. In a statement on Thursday, the Catholic charity Caritas Internationalis said that the church served as a shelter for displaced civilians, "who were simply trying to survive."

The organization called for an end to "attacks on civilians, especially those seeking refuge in churches, other places of worship and clearly marked humanitarian spaces."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement, quoting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that Israel "deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza's Holy Family Church."

The diplomats noted that the incident is being investigated, with Israel being supposedly "committed to protecting civilians and holy sites."

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The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, told the Vatican News website that the Holy Family Church was "directly" hit by a tank shell.

In a post on its Telegram channel, Hamas slammed the Israeli attack as a "new crime committed against places of worship and innocent displaced persons".

According to Al Jazeera, citing local medical sources, Israeli strikes across Gaza on Thursday alone killed at least 32 Palestinians.

In October 2023, just days after the conflict broke out, the Israeli army similarly bombed the Church of Saint Porphyrius, killing at least 18 people.