An Israeli tank shell “mistakenly” struck a Catholic church in Gaza Thursday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated Thursday evening. Shell fragments caused three deaths and nine or 10 injuries, as well as damage to the stone structure. The rare error by Israel drew international criticism, even from Israel’s friends, and illustrates the difficulty of conducting urban combat amid a civilian population.

“An initial inquiry … suggests that fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly,” the IDF reported. “The cause of the incident is under review,” the IDF added. Possible causes would include an equipment malfunction or human error.

As the only Catholic church in Gaza, Holy Family Church has sheltered numerous civilians during the war there, including both Christians and Muslims, the AP reported. Yet its location places it in a dangerous neighborhood near a Hamas stronghold. Holy Family Church is located a mere six blocks from Al-Shifa Hospital, under which Hamas operated a command center with multiple entry points to its underground tunnel network. Even after Israel uncovered and destroyed the command center, IDF personnel still encounter Hamas militants in the neighborhood

Given its proximity to so much intense fighting throughout the war, it is almost surprising that Holy Family Church is not struck more often, simply on accident. Through nearly two years of conflict, the church sustained damage only once before, when Israeli shrapnel damaged solar panels and destroyed water tanks at the church.

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

Yet even the most painstaking care cannot completely eliminate collateral damage done to civilians. Nor can the most careful operations by the IDF bring back the civilian lives lost on Thursday.

Among the victims were the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman busy in a tent at the church compound, said the Associated Press, although they did not identify the third fatality. Parish priest Gabriel Romanelli was also injured in the leg.

When asked for President Donald Trump’s reaction to the incident, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded that “It was not a positive reaction. He called Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning to address the strikes on that church in Gaza. … It was a mistake by the Israelis to hit that Catholic church. That’s what the prime minister relayed to the president and you should look at the prime minister’s statement that will be coming.”

Shortly thereafter, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an apology. “Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church,” Netanyahu said. “Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the grief of the families and the faithful. We are grateful to Pope Leo for his words of comfort. Israel is investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites.”

The Israel Foreign Ministry also expressed “deep sorrow over the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and over any civilian casualty.” They promised, “The IDF is examining this incident, the circumstances of which are still unclear, and the results of the investigation will be published transparently. Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians.”

Israel sustained criticism from other quarters as well, including the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem and Pope Leo XIV. Even Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, usually a supporter of Israel, called the strike “unacceptable.”

Yet even such criticism (and self-criticism) makes it clear that Israel is “the good guy” in their war against extremist terrorist organizations. It drives home the unarguable fact that Israel is held (and holds itself) to a higher standard than Hamas.

Hamas has never apologized for a military action that accidentally resulted in civilian deaths. On the contrary, Hamas deliberately embeds itself in civilian populations — such as near Gaza’s only Catholic church — thereby placing civilians in harm’s way.

When Hamas kills civilians, it doesn’t field calls from allies demanding an apology, nor do Iranian imams issue statements of public criticism. After Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7, 2023, in which Hamas killed more Jews than in any single attack since the Holocaust, the Qatari government did not call the massacre “unacceptable” or demand an apology. Instead, Qatar held Israel “solely responsible for the current escalation due to its continuing violation of the rights of the Palestinian people” and immediately urged “all sides to stop escalation, bring about calm and exercise maximum self-restraint.” In other words, Qatar gave Western Hamas apologists their talking points.

Yet being “the good guy” does not excuse carelessness on the part of the IDF, and there should be consequences for those responsible.

The realization that even moral militants make mortal mistakes reminds us that all war is horrible. As Christians, it should compel us to pray more fervently for an end to all wars. This will come about not through a utopian scheme for temporal world peace, but through Christ’s eternal reign in his second coming (Isaiah 2:2-4).