Pope renews call for Gaza ceasefire after Israeli strike on church kills three
Newshour
BBC
4.4 • 984 Ratings
🗓️ 17 July 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Pope Leo XIV has renewed his call for a Gaza ceasefire after three people sheltering in the Catholic church in Gaza City were killed in an Israeli strike. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzabella gives us his reaction to the bombing. The Israeli military says the incident is under review.
Also on the programme: We ask whether the Israeli bombing of targets in Syria complies with international law; and the sale of ROSEBUD, the wooden sledge that drove the plot of one of the greatest ever films: Citizen Kane.
Photo: Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Christians Saad Salama and Foumia Ayyad, who were killed in a strike on the Holy Family Church, according to medics, at the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, in Gaza City, July 17, 2025. (Credit REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alka)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service coming live from London. This is Owen Bennett Jones. |
| 0:11.0 | One of the little-known aspects of the late Pope Francis's life that emerged after he died was that he would call a priest in the Roman Catholic Church in Gaza every day. |
| 0:23.1 | Well, that church has now been bombed and three people in it have been killed. |
| 0:29.1 | Father Gabriel Rominelli, the priest who used to talk to Pope Francis, was injured in the attack. |
| 0:35.7 | Israel's foreign ministry has apologized. |
| 0:38.5 | Cardinal Pierre Batista Pizabella is the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. |
| 0:44.2 | So actually, he oversees this church. |
| 0:46.9 | What does he know about the attack? |
| 0:48.9 | From the Israeli army, we don't know exactly from where or from what. |
| 0:53.1 | The church has been struck directly, |
| 0:56.3 | and partially destroyed not very much. The damage is not that big, but we had six people |
| 1:02.0 | seriously wounded, and three of them died after a few minutes because of the wounds, and four |
| 1:09.5 | others are still now very serious conditions. And about |
| 1:14.2 | 10 to 12, we don't know exactly, they are just lightly wounded. Are you clear why the |
| 1:21.1 | Israelis did this? No, it's not clear. They said that probably is a mistake. They always |
| 1:26.3 | stress that the church and the only place is |
| 1:30.1 | not, it's never been a target. And they are investigating. This is what we heard. But do you know how |
| 1:35.4 | many people were in the church at the time of the attack? About till a few days ago, they are |
| 1:41.0 | 541. Oh, right. And they are Christians, are they taking shelter? |
| 1:45.7 | They are Christians, yes. I see. They're all living taking shelters in the church compound. |
| 1:50.3 | Oh, wow. And they've been there for some time. Since the beginning of the war. |
| 1:53.9 | Is it the only Roman Catholic church in Gaza, or are there others? |
... |
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