Israeli strikes kill 27 in Gaza, three die in church late pope often spoke to

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli forces killed at least 27 people in attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including three people who died in a strike on a church that late Pope Francis used to speak to regularly, medics and church officials said.

Eight men tasked with protecting aid trucks were reported among the dead in airstrikes that were carried out while mediators continued ceasefire talks in Doha.

A U.S. official said this week the talks were going well but two officials from the Palestinian militant group Hamas told Reuters there had been no breakthrough as the Israeli military continued to pummel Gaza.

Two women and one man died and several people were wounded in a strike by the Israeli army on Gaza's Holy Family Church, said the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees the small parish.

"The Latin Patriarchate strongly condemns this tragedy and this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place," a statement by the Patriarchate said, adding that the victims had turned to the church compound as a safe haven "after their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away".

"This horrific war must come to a complete end," it said.

Photos released by the church showed its roof had been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and that windows had been broken.

Father Gabriele Romanelli, an Argentine who used to regularly update the late Pope Francis about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was lightly injured in the attack. TV footage showed him sitting receiving treatment at Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza, with a bandage around his lower right leg.

Pope Leo said in a statement that he was "deeply saddened" by the loss of life and renewed his appeal for an immediate ceasefire, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said attacks on civilians were unacceptable.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident. Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement on X that the results of the investigation would be published. It also said the country did not target churches or religious sites and regretted harm to them or civilians.

Israel has been trying to eradicate Hamas in Gaza in a military campaign that began after the group's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 and has caused widespread hunger and privation in the tiny enclave.

Palestinian medics said one airstrike on Thursday had killed a man, his wife and their five children in Jabalia in northern Gaza, and that another in the north had killed eight men who had been handed responsibility for protecting aid trucks.

Three people were killed in an airstrike in central Gaza and four in Zeitoun in eastern Gaza, medics said.

CEASEFIRE TALKS

Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a proposed U.S. 60-day truce.

As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release detained Palestinians. The exact number is not clear.

A Hamas source with knowledge of the matter said Israel had presented new maps to the mediators, pledging to pull the army further back than had previously been offered. The source said this partially met Hamas' demands, but was still insufficient.

Disputes also remain over aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said the two other Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters.

Israel has told the mediators it is willing to drop its demand to maintain a military presence along the so-called Morag Corridor in southern Gaza during a ceasefire and is prepared to show flexibility regarding the size of the security buffer it would retain near the Israeli border, Israeli media reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not immediately comment on the reports.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza were going well. A Palestinian official close to the talks said such optimistic comments were "empty of substance."

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, according to Israeli tallies.

(Additional reporting by Alvise Armellini in Rome, Editing by Timothy Heritage, William Maclean)