GAZA/JERUSALEM — At least 34 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, July 17, 2025, while two rockets fired from northern Gaza toward Israel were intercepted, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
Two people were killed and seven others were injured in an Israeli drone strike on the Holy Family Church, which houses displaced persons, east of Gaza City, said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza. He added that Parish Priest Father Gabriel Romanelli was among the injured.
According to local sources, the airstrike occurred shortly after members of the community held a prayer for peace inside the church. The strike caused significant damage to the facility, which shelters about 600 people, including those with special needs.
The Israeli military said Thursday it was aware of reports on the incident and that the circumstances “are under review.”
Aid workers
Meanwhile, eight people were killed in an Israeli attack on aid workers in the Sudaniya area, northwest of Gaza City. Six others were killed in Israeli shelling of two residential apartments and a gathering of Palestinians in several neighborhoods of Gaza City, Basal said.
A Palestinian family of seven was killed in the bombing of their home in the Jabalia area, northern Gaza, Basal added.
In central Gaza, four Palestinians were killed in Israeli artillery shelling east of the Nuseirat refugee camp, and five more were killed in the bombing of a tent for displaced persons inside Abu Helu School in the adjacent Bureij camp, he said.
A girl was killed and several others were injured in a drone strike on displaced persons’ tents northwest of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, according to the Nasser Medical Complex. A young man was killed in an airstrike on the al-Mawasi area.
Palestinian security sources said Israeli artillery shelled the northern, eastern and southern outskirts of Gaza City amid helicopter gunfire. The army also destroyed residential buildings in Rafah and Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said in a separate statement it had intercepted two rockets fired from northern Gaza toward southern Israel. No injuries or damage were reported.
Since Israel resumed its military campaign in Gaza on March 18, at least 7,750 Palestinians have been killed and 27,566 have been injured, bringing the total death toll in Gaza since the conflict began in October 2023 to 58,573, with 139,607 people injured, according to health authorities in Gaza. / XINHUA