After the Holy Family church was struck on Thursday morning, three of the approximately 600 Gazans sheltering there were killed, and several others, including the parish priest Fr Gabriel Romanelli, were injured.

Speaking on Sunday after reciting the Angelus prayer at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, the Pope named the three victims – Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad, and Najwa Ibrahim Latif Abu Daoud – and said he was “close” to them and their families.

Pope Leo then stressed that the attack “is just one of the continuous military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza”.

The Pope appealed for “an immediate halt to the barbarity of the war” and for “a peaceful resolution of the conflict”. He urged the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, “as well as the prohibition against collective punishment, indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population”.