An Israeli tank fired a shell at Gaza’s only Catholic Church yesterday that has left three dead and 10 wounded, two seriously and one critically.

While the Israeli government has said the tank fire was not deliberate, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierrebattista Pizzaballa, has expressed doubts.

“What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the church directly, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin Church,” he said.

Sources close to the patriarchate’s chancery told The Pillar that some officials believe the strike could be a deliberate act of retaliation—a direct response to an intervention by Church leaders on Monday that accused Israeli authorities of enabling attacks from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank on local communities.

The heads of the Latin and Orthodox Churches met at Taybeh, the last remaining Christian town in the West Bank and the site of several recent attacks on local Christians by extremist Israeli settlers. Also in attendance were diplomatic representatives of the EU and 20 nations as well as international media.