The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Wednesday announced that a “deviation of munitions” was the reason for the unintended strike on Holy Family Church in Gaza on 17 July. Three people died as a result of the misdirected mortar round, with nine injured, including the parish priest.
The church has served as a shelter for more than 600 people since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023, housing mainly Catholics, but also Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Following an inquiry by the IDF, in a 23 July statement, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said the inquiry had found that the church was "accidentally" struck “due to an unintentional deviation of munitions", which was specified to be a mortar round.
