<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong></strong><strong>The Spanish government condemned this Thursday the Israeli bombing of the Holy Family Church in Gaza, which served as a refuge for hundreds of Palestinians and which left at least three people dead and several injured.</strong></h4> "We demand respect for places specially protected by international humanitarian law, and we urge an immediate cessation of hostilities and indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. "The Spanish government reiterates the urgency of reaching a ceasefire that will allow for the release of the hostages and the entry of humanitarian aid," it concluded. The Israeli army bombed the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip and which housed numerous people displaced by the conflict, according to a statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The religious media network EWTN reported three deaths, but Zaher al-Waheidi, director of the Health Unit in charge of the Gaza death toll, raised the number to four. The dead include the parish caretaker, 60, and an 84-year-old woman who was receiving psychosocial support in a Caritas tent inside the church. The Israeli army has stated that it is analyzing the "circumstances of the incident" and "the damage caused to the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City and the casualties at the site." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "deeply regretted the impact of a stray projectile on the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza" and asserted that "every innocent life lost is a tragedy." More than 58,500 people have died in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began more than 21 months ago, according to official Palestinian data. According to the Italian Episcopal Conference (SIR), this Catholic parish was hosting some 500 Christians displaced by Israeli bombing and forced evictions by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. Pope Leo XIV has once again called for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza and expressed his "deep sadness" at the loss of human life. Meanwhile, in a harsher tone than her usual approach to the Gaza conflict, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described as "unacceptable the attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months." US President Donald Trump has contacted Benjamin Netanyahu to express his condemnation of the Israeli attack on the church, which he attributed to "a mistake."
