Trump Calls Netanyahu About Strike on Gaza Church

The strike killed three people and wounded 10 others.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 7, 2025. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his displeasure with the Israeli military’s strike on a Catholic church in Gaza on July 17, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“It was not a positive reaction. He called Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning to address the strikes on that church in Gaza,” Leavitt told reporters.

“And I understand the prime minister agreed to put out a statement that it was a mistake by the Israelis to hit that Catholic church. That’s what the prime minister relayed to the president.”

The strike killed three people and wounded 10 others.

The church, which served as a shelter, is the only Catholic one in the Gaza Strip.

“We were struck in the church while all the people there were elders, innocent people and children,” Shady Abu Dawood, whose mother was wounded, told The Associated Press. “We love peace and call for it, and this is a brutal, unjustified action by the Israeli occupation.”

Israel said it is probing the strike.

“Israel expresses deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualty,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said on X.

“The IDF is examining this incident, the circumstances of which are still unclear, and the results of the investigation will be published transparently,” he wrote, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

“Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians.”

In a post on X, the IDF said that it “is aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene” and that “the circumstances of the incident are under review.”

“The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them,” it added.

In a telegram of condolences for the victims, Pope Leo XIV expressed “his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region” and said that he was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned Israel over the strike.

“The attacks on the civilian population that Israel has been demonstrating for months are unacceptable,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.