By Alvise Armellini
ROME/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa entered Gaza on Friday to bring aid to victims of Israel's strike on the sole Catholic church in the Palestinian enclave, while he and a Vatican official questioned Israeli explanations for the incident.
Three people died and several were injured, including the parish priest, in the strike on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City a day earlier. Photos show its roof has been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and shattering windows.
The church has sheltered hundreds of Palestinians since the start of Israel's military campaign against Hamas in the enclave in October 2023, following the group's deadly attack on Israel.
In an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera daily, Pizzaballa said a Catholic presence would remain in Gaza "whatever happens," and he expressed doubts about Israel's explanation that the strike was a mistake.
"We are not a target. They say it was an error. Even if everybody here believes it wasn't," said the cardinal, who is Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch, the top Catholic authority in the region.
The Vatican's editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, wrote on the Holy See's official news outlet that Israel's references to a mistake and its promises of an investigation "can hardly be reassuring".
"Not only because they are contradicted by the images of mosques reduced to rubble and churches attacked (...) but also because, after a year and a half, there are still no results from the investigation into the killing of two Christian women shot by a sniper in the Gaza parish," he said.
'STRAY AMMUNITION'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blamed "stray ammunition" for the church strike and said his country was "investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites."
Netanyahu called Pope Leo on Friday.
In the conversation, Leo renewed appeals for an end to the war, called for the protection of civilians and places of worship, and again voiced concern for "the dramatic humanitarian situation" in Gaza, the Vatican said.
Netanyahu - who on Thursday was reportedly reprimanded for the church strike by U.S. President Donald Trump - expressed to Leo "Israel's regret for the tragic incident" and "heartfelt condolences" for the families of the victims, his office said.
It is extremely rare for foreign officials to be allowed entry into Gaza, as Israel has essentially sealed its borders. Pizzaballa was accompanied by Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The two religious leaders brought "hundreds of tons of food supplies as well as first aid kits and urgently needed medical equipment," the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.
The aid is meant not only for Gaza's small Christian community but for "as many families as possible", the Patriarchate said, adding it also ensured the evacuation of those injured in the church strike.
The pope, who on Thursday said he was "deeply saddened" by the attack but did not blame Israel for it, called the cardinal and Theophilos on Friday to convey support for their mission, Pizzaballa told Vatican media.
The pope expressed his love and affection for the Gaza parish community "and reiterated his intention to do everything possible to stop the needless slaughter of innocents," the Vatican said.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini in Rome and Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem, editing by Alexandra Hudson and Gavin Jones)
