Israel attacks Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing 3 – War on Gaza Day 650

contact@ifamericansknew.org July 18, 2025antisemitism, columbia university, eliat port, gaza genocide, holy family church gaza, IHRA definition, Israeli settlers, itamar ben gvir, starvation in gaza

Israel bombed Holy Family Catholic Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing at least 3. (screenshot)

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

Israeli forces killed at least 61 Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday. Among the dead was a newborn at the Baptist hospital in Gaza city, due to malnutrition.

Eight people, who had been tasked with securing aid trucks, have been reported killed in a drone attack.

For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Thursday, go here.

In the West Bank, one Palestinian near Tubas was killed, and one Palestinian in Israeli detention reportedly died, on Thursday (see below).

Four people were killed in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon.

Palestinian Ministry of Health publishes list of every person killed in Gaza

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has published a list of every known death of a Palestinian killed as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The 2,086-page document, published on Telegram, lists the name, age, gender, and ID number of 58,380 people.

The list features some 953 children less than a year old, with the first nine entries documenting children killed on the same day they were born.

ISRAELI LIVES MATTER: About the time the 2,000-page list of Palestinians killed was published, a spokesperson for the Israeli mission to the United Nations criticized several U.N. agencies during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday: “The glaring silence of this council about Israeli children, about hostages, murdered toddlers like the Bibas boys, on traumatized survivors who will never see their parents again, on children running for shelter as Iranian missiles rained down on civilian population centers, is more than a technical mission,” the Israeli diplomat told the council. “It is a moral failure.”

NOTE: The number of Israeli children killed in 2023-2025 is around 35. Over 17,000 Palestinian children have been killed.

GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:

(To understand what’s going on right now between Gaza and Israel, go here. For a bit more critical background, skim this, this, and this. To read about a remarkable but underreported, 20-month-long peaceful protest in Gaza against Israel, go here.)

Israel kills three in Gaza Catholic church sheltering elderly, children

Israeli forces have bombed Gaza’s only Catholic church, the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, killing three people and wounding at least 10 others, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, as the military continues its assault across the besieged enclave.

“The people in the Holy Family Compound are people who found in the Church a sanctuary – hoping that the horrors of war might at least spare their lives, after their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away,” the Patriarchate said in its statement after condemning the deadly attack.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said in comments to Vatican News that an Israeli tank hit the church “directly”.

Among those wounded in the attack was the priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli – who was friends with the late Pope Francis. The pontiff phoned him daily throughout the ongoing war, right up until the day before he died in April.

After immense pressure from the US, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement attributing the strike to “stray ammunition”, adding that Israel was investigating the incident and “remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites.*”

Only about 1,100 Christians live in Gaza, according to a US Department of State report in 2024. The majority of Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox, but there are also Roman Catholics living there.

*NOTE: Israel’s self-investigations – on the rare occasions when they do take place – consistentlywhitewash its crimes and fail to appropriatelypunish the perpetrators. (Israel has a long trackrecord of lying.)

**NOTE: In recent years, Israel’s treatment of Palestinian Christians has often been reprehensible, aggressively policing Christian holy sites during holidays – including both governmental/military and civilian/settler actions.

Palestinians pray over those killed in Israel’s Thursday attack on the only Catholic church in Gaza, which killed 3. (screenshot)

Pope renews call for ceasefire in Gaza after attack on Catholic parish

Pope Leo XIV has renewed his calls for “an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza following an Israeli military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Parish.

The Pope commended the souls of the deceased to the “loving mercy of Almighty God,” offered prayers for the recovery of the injured and the consolation of those who grieve, and renewed his appeal for peace and for a ceasefire, and expressed his “profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation, and enduring peace in the region.”

NOTABLE QUOTE:

Majed Bamya, deputy ambassador of the State of Palestine to the UN, on Israel’s attack on the church:

There are often attempts to portray the conflict as a religious conflict between Muslims and Jews when it is a struggle for Palestinians’ presence in their homeland and their right to life and liberty as individuals and as a people.
In that struggle, people of every nationality, faith and race come together to defend freedom and justice, the sole path to peace.
Palestinian Christians are often erased as they do not fit this narrative.
Today the Israeli strike that hit the church in Gaza that pope Francis used to call nightly killing three people Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad and Najwa Abu Dawood and injuring parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, brought this component of the Palestinian people to the forefront.
Its existence, its contribution, its suffering, its resilience is an integral part of the Palestinian history, present and identity and it is an integral part of Palestine’s future.

GAZA PATIENTS DIE FROM WOUNDS DUE TO STARVATION: British Professor Nick Maynard, currently at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis with Medical Aid for Palestinians’ Emergency Medical Team, said, “The malnutrition I’m seeing here is indescribably bad.” He described patients, including children, who are unable to heal because of extreme nutritional deficiencies. “I have had so many patients die because they can’t get enough food to recover, it’s distressing to see that and know that it is preventable and treatable,” he said.

UNDER GLOBAL PRESSURE, ISRAEL TO RESTORE POWER TO GAZA DESALINATION PLANT: Israel is reportedly preparing to reactivate one power line to the Gaza Strip for the operation of one desalination facility, four months after cutting the flow of electricity to the plant. A government statement said, “It is emphasized that there has been no change in the overarching directive not to resume the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip through other power lines from Israel. The decision to reconnect to Israel’s power grid came in response to international pressure, Israel’s Channel 14 Newsreported earlier this week. Gaza’s electricity was cut off immediately after the October 7th resistance attacks, and other than the desalination plant, has been off ever since.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Israeli forces target al-Mawasi after ordering Palestinians to move there

“I Said Good Morning to the Dead”: Inside the Al-Baqa Cafe Bombing

Netanyahu is not the cause of the Gaza genocide. Zionism is.

WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL NEWS AND HEADLINES:

(For background on the West Bank, read this and this. For information on the significance of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, read this and this.)

ISRAELI SOLDIERS KILL A PALESTINIAN NEAR TUBAS: The General Authority for Civil Affairs announced Thursday the death of Palestinian citizen Firas Ahmad Raja Sobeh, 47, who succumbed to critical injuries after being shot by Israeli forces earlier that morning in Wadi al-Far’a, south of Tubas, in the northeastern part of the occupied West Bank. His body remains withheld by the Israeli military. Sobeh was a married father of seven, four sons and three daughters (more here).

PALESTINIAN DIES IN ISRAELI PRISON:Palestinian prisoner groups announced Thursday, the death of detainee Samir Mohammad Youssef Ar-Refa’ey, 53, from the town of Rummana in Jenin Governorate. Ar-Refa’ey, a married father of five, was abducted by Israeli forces on July 10 of this year. He suffered from chronic heart conditions requiring ongoing medical supervision. 74 identified detainees have died in Israeli custody since the onset of the genocide. The total number of detention deaths since 1967 is 311.

ISRAELI SETTLERS BRING HERD OF COWS INSIDE HISTORIC WEST BANK CHURCH: Israeli settlers continued their organized attacks* on Palestinian towns and properties on Thursday, storming the historic St George Church (al-Khader) in the town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, marking the third violation of the church in one week. Residents said that around 80 cows were brought by settlers into the church compound, in an act they described as deeply offensive due to the site’s religious significance and historical value.

*NOTE: Israel has illegally built around 280 settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are home to more than 700,000 illegal settlers. Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are aviolation of international law, and considered by many Palestinians to be the main barrier to any lasting peace agreement.

Some settler groups have a history of violenceagainst Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces.

In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israeli settlers organize a provocative tour at the city under the protection of Israeli forces in Hebron, West Bank on May 17, 2025. (Mamoun Wazwaz – Anadolu Agency)

BEN GVIR VOWS TO STARVE PALESTINIAN PRISONERS: Following a hearing for a civil rights group in Israel that is demanding proper feeding of Palestinian prisoners, Israel’s extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tweeted, “Instead of discussing how to strengthen deterrence, they are debating whether the [prisoners’] menu is balanced, healthy, and rich in vitamins,” he mocked, calling the case “madness and delusion.” Vowing to continue the policy, Ben-Gvir said: “I am here to ensure that the ‘terrorists*’ receive the minimum of the minimum (in food).”

*According to the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, “The basic daily food rations shall be sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to keep prisoners of war in good health and to prevent loss of weight or the development of nutritional deficiencies. Account shall also be taken of the habitual diet of the prisoners.”

**NOTE: The use of the word “terrorist” for a group that resists occupation and oppression is a political, not fact-based choice. In reality, international law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, the UN extending that right to the point of armed resistance.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Israeli forces arrest 8, set explosives to demolish two homes in occupied West Bank

SYRIA NEWS AND HEADLINES:

(Go here for accessible background and analysis of the escalation between Israel and Syria.)

Throughout the day on Thursday, the State Department has been characterizing the Israel-Syria conflict as a misunderstanding. The spokesperson for the State Department, Tammy Bruce, described it as a “misunderstanding between new neighbors.”

RECOMMENDED READING:

Israel’s latest bombing of Syria, explained

Syrian president accuses Israel of ‘sowing discord,’ vows to ‘protect’ Druze

OTHER NEWS AND HEADLINES:

COULD TRUMP BE PERSUADED TO SAVE PALESTINIANS IN GAZA? It seems paradoxical to look to Donald Trump to save the Palestinians, yet no recent American president has been better placed to insist that the Israeli government stop its extraordinary repression and brutality. Trump so far has largely given Israel carte blanche to continue its genocide in Gaza, but Benjamin Netanyahu would be remiss to count on the fickle and self-serving American president. And there may be a way to turn Trump around (more here).

Columbia University urged to reverse adoption of IHRA definition of antisemitism

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned Columbia University’s decision to adopt the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, calling it “an attack on free speech”.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Afaf Nasher, CAIR’s New York chapter director, said, “Columbia’s adoption of the IHRA definition, which one of its own authors has said should not be used in official capacities on campuses, is an attack on free speech,” adding, “This decision is nothing more than the shameless weaponization of antisemitism in order to stifle the ability of students to speak out against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli government.”

Pro-Palestinian student protesters demonstrate at Columbia University on the third day of ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ after mass arrests by New York Police Department in New York, United States on April 19, 2024 (Selçuk Acar – Anadolu Agency)

US LAWMAKERS CONDEMN BILL IN IRELAND BANNING TRADE WITH ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS: Almost two-dozen mostly Republican members of Congress have expressed their opposition to legislation making its way through Ireland’s parliament attempting to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham – one lawmaker who posted on X as part of a coordinated campaign opposing the bill – said he hopes “Ireland will reconsider their efforts to economically isolate Israel.” He added, “I do not believe these efforts would be well received in the United States and they certainly would not go unnoticed.” (A full list of Congress members opposing the Irish legislation can be found here).

DEBT-RIDDEN ISRAELI PORT TO SHUT DOWN: The southern Israeli port of Eilat is set to shut down completely on July 20, due to massive debts and paralysis caused by Yemen’s pro-Palestine naval blockade on Israel. Hebrew media reports described the situation as a “dramatic step” that could undermine Israeli maritime logistics in the Red Sea, and referred to the port as “debt ridden.” Specifically, the closure could halt logistical support for the Israeli navy, which has used the port’s facilities since the start of the war in Gaza (more here).

RECOMMENDED READING:

1st in EU, Slovenia to ban Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich over ‘unbearable situation’ in Gaza

New U.S. assessment finds American strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JULY 17, 2025:

At least 59,683 Palestinians killed, 149,204 injured – including:
at least 58,667 killed in Gaza (~17,000 children)
at least 1,016 killed in the West Bank (~203 children)
at least 139,974 injured in Gaza
at least 9,230 injured in the West Bank

According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19 – March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 170 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.

Since the Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, it has killed at least 7,843 people. 45 Israeli soldiers (most recent July 9) have been killed during the same time period.

At least 877 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid parcels from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating on May 26, 2025.

Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 14,000 more are still buried under rubble.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – July 17, 2025: ~1,627 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 449 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. (72 soldiers have reportedly died due to “operational incidents.”)

By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 226 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 186 and 293 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used).

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

Friday, 18 July 2025

Israel attacks Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing 3 – War on Gaza Day 650

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