Israel-Palestine conflict

Gaza City, Palestine – For 72-year-old Kamal Anton, Pope Francis was a source of comfort and support.

Kamal has had to shelter since the start of the war in the same Catholic church compound in Gaza City – the Holy Family Church – that his wife and daughter were shot and killed by an Israeli sniper in.

That was in December 2023, two months after the start of Israel’s war. Anton and the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza have often felt abandoned in the 18 months of conflict, in which more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, with hope of an end to the war still feeling remote.

But the late pope, who died aged 88 in the Vatican City on Monday after a battle with illness, was in constant contact with Gaza’s small Christian community. Before his illness, he held calls every evening with those sheltering at the church, and continued to reach out, on a less regular basis, even after he fell ill.

Kamal remembered his most recent call on Saturday, just two days before his death. Pope Francis was greeting the members of the church for Easter.

“During his call, he prayed for peace and resilience for us in Gaza,” Kamal said. “He never forgot the word ‘peace’ in any of his calls with us throughout the war. His support included all of us – Christians and Muslims alike. He prayed daily for our safety.”

Palestinian defender

A deep sense of grief and sorrow permeates the Holy Family Church, where approximately 550 displaced Palestinian Christians continue to seek shelter.

Israel has attacked the church and its neighbouring school several times during the war, including a July 2024 attack in which four people were killed. Another church, St Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church, has also been bombed.

But the Holy Family Church is still a refuge. People gather inside the church every day, piano music accompanies hymns during prayer, and people greet Father Gabriel Romanelli. He’s the parish priest, an Argentinian who came to Gaza to lead the church 15 years ago.

After the death of the pope, those in the church have largely dressed in black, the colour of mourning.

The loss of the leader of their church was a solemn enough event, but Palestinian Christians know they have also lost one of their greatest defenders – a world leader who has long backed the Palestinian cause, and has earned the anger of Israel on a number of occasions for his defence of Palestinians.

In his final public speech delivered on his behalf on Easter, Francis called for peace in Gaza and urged the warring sides to “agree to a ceasefire, release the hostages, and provide aid to a starving people longing for a peaceful future”.

Father Romanelli told Al Jazeera that the loss of Pope Francis was a tragedy for Christians around the world, and particularly in Gaza.

He recalled that Saturday phone call with the pope.

“He said he was praying for us, supporting us, and thanked us for our prayers,” Romanelli said. “People at the church waited for his call daily. He would speak to the children and reassure them. He was deeply human and incredibly supportive, especially during the war.”

Catastrophe

Kamal noted that support from Pope Francis was also material, in the form of aid arriving in Gaza until Israel blocked all entry of goods into Gaza in March, just before it unilaterally broke a ceasefire.

“Everyone in Gaza knows how much the Vatican supported us,” Kamal said. “We always shared that aid with our Muslim neighbours too.”

Kamal’s fellow Palestinian Christian, 74-year-old Maher Terzi, is also in mourning.

Maher, who has been displaced since the first week of the war, had just sat in the mourning hall when he spoke to Al Jazeera.

“He gave us strength,” Maher said. “He told us not to be afraid, that he was with us and would never abandon us, no matter what.”

“He encouraged us to hold on to our land, and promised to help us rebuild our destroyed homes,” Maher added. “His death is a catastrophe and a shock for us during such a difficult time.”

Mahmoud Khalil’s wife Noor Abdalla accuses US government of trying to silence pro-Palestinian activism.

Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist who has been detained in the United States pending his deportation, has missed the birth of his son after being refused temporary release to attend the birth, his wife has said.

Noor Abdalla said on Monday that she gave birth to the couple’s first child in New York without Khalil present after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement made the “purposeful decision” to make her family suffer.

“My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud,” Abdalla, a US citizen, said in a statement.

“ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.”

“I will continue to fight every day for Mahmoud to come home to us,” Abdalla added.

“I know when Mahmoud is freed, he will show our son how to be brave, thoughtful, and compassionate, just like his dad.”

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University who played a prominent role in last year’s campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, was detained by immigration authorities on March 8 as part of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism.

The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil, who is being detained at an ICE facility in Louisiana, claiming that his advocacy has undermined US efforts to “combat anti-Semitism” and “protect Jewish students from harassment and violence”.

Khalil, who is a permanent US resident, has denied engaging in anti-Semitism.

An immigration judge in Louisiana earlier this month ruled that the Trump administration could proceed with deportation proceedings against Khalil, finding that the government had “established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable”.

Khalil’s lawyers have said they will appeal the decision.

The Israeli army has described its killing of 15 emergency workers in Gaza and burying them and their vehicles as a “professional error”.

The bodies of 14 humanitarian workers were found in a mass grave along with their crushed vehicles a week after coming under Israeli fire in late March. One body had been found a few days before.

The army said it had “shrouded” the bodies with cloth and sand to protect them until humanitarian organisations could retrieve them.

Israel had blocked access to the site for days, later insisting it was not an attempt to cover up the attack.

Here’s what to know about the attack, Israel’s claims and how the investigation stacks up against other evidence:

What happened to the emergency workers and vehicles in Gaza?

• March 23: About 4am (01:00 GMT), a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance was dispatched to join an earlier one helping people injured in an Israeli air strike in Rafah’s al-Hashaashin area.
• Contact was lost with it, and the first ambulance went back out to find it about 5am. The paramedics radioed back that they could see casualties on the ground on the way to Tal as-Sultan, another area in southern Gaza.
• Two more ambulances were dispatched along with a firetruck and other emergency vehicles. They came under Israeli gunfire for more than five minutes. Minutes later, soldiers also fired at a United Nations car that stopped at the scene. The PRCS lost contact with its team.
• March 24: The Israeli military blocked access to the site of the attacks.
• March 27-28: United Nations and Palestinian officials gain limited access to the area, recovering the vehicles and bodies of a Gaza Civil Defence member.
• March 30: The bodies of five Civil Defence responders, a UN employee and eight PRCS workers are found in a shallow grave. A ninth PRCS worker, Assaad al-Nassasra, is being held by Israel, PRCS confirmed later. In total, Israel killed 15 emergency workers in the attack.

What did video evidence show?

A video found on the phone of slain paramedic Rifaat Radwan shows the team’s final moments.

The video, filmed from inside one of the last two ambulances to head out, shows a firetruck and ambulances driving ahead through the night.

All vehicles were clearly identified with emergency lights flashing.

The vehicles stopped when they see an ambulance and bodies by the roadside, and first responders in reflective uniforms exit the vehicles. Moments later, intense gunfire erupts.

As the gunfire continues, Radwan can be heard asking his mother for forgiveness and reciting the Islamic declaration of faith, the Shahada, before he dies.

What did the Israeli investigation say?

After a review, the Israeli military described the killings as “professional failures” and a “misunderstanding”. Nobody has been charged.

It dismissed a deputy commander for “providing an incomplete report” and reprimanded a commanding officer.

Major General Yoav Har-Even, who conducted the review, said two responders were killed in an initial incident, 12 people were killed in a second shooting and another person was killed in a third incident.

“The fire in the first two incidents resulted from an operational misunderstanding by the troops, who believed they faced a tangible threat from enemy forces. The third incident involved a breach of orders during a combat setting,” the military statement said.

Troops bulldozed over the bodies and their mangled vehicles, but the investigation said that was not an attempt to conceal the attack.

The Military Advocate General’s Corps, meant to be an independent body under Israel’s attorney general and Supreme Court, can now decide whether to file civil charges.

How did Israel explain shooting the ambulances?

The investigative report said soldiers did not recognise the ambulances due to “poor night visibility” and because flashing lights are less visible on night-vision drones and goggles.

It also blamed the now-dismissed deputy commander, saying he mistakenly thought the ambulance was being used by Hamas and opened fire first.

Israel has tried to justify previous attacks on protected entities by saying Hamas hides among civilians and uses ambulances to carry out operations.

Har-Even told reporters that one of the humanitarian workers at the scene was questioned over suspected Hamas links. The man, Munther Abed, was released the next day.

Before the video of the attack was found, Israel’s military had said the ambulances had been “advancing suspiciously” towards its soldiers “without headlights or emergency signals”.

How did Israel explain shooting uniformed medics?

The first responders were “in their uniforms, still wearing gloves” when they were killed, said Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territory.

Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said several team members were found with their hands and feet bound and bullet wounds to the head and torso, indicating they were executed at close range after being identified as humanitarian workers.

Without offering proof, the Israeli investigative report said six of those killed were “Hamas members” although no Palestinian fighters were reported found in the mass grave.

Har-Even told reporters that no paramedic was armed and no weapons were found in any vehicle.

An Israeli military official said the bodies had been covered “in sand and cloth” to preserve them until their retrieval could be coordinated with international organisations.

The army also said it has found “no evidence to support claims of execution” and “such claims are blood libels and false accusations against [Israeli] soldiers”.

How thoroughly does Israel investigate itself?

Human rights groups and international legal experts said Israel’s self-reviews often lack independence and transparency.

Israel said it reviews its military’s conduct through internal probes led by its military advocate general, who decides whether to pursue criminal investigations.

But the military has a track record of denying wrongdoing, contradicting itself or blaming low-ranking individuals without broader repercussions for the armed forces.

In 2022, it claimed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Palestinian fire until several media investigations debunked that. Israel later admitted it may have shot her “accidentally” but ruled out a criminal probe.

In January, the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor defended seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, citing Israel’s failure to genuinely investigate allegations of war crimes.

How have critics responded?

The PRCS and the Israeli rights organisation Breaking the Silence have rejected the findings of the Israeli probe.

“It is incomprehensible why the occupation soldiers buried the bodies of the paramedics,” PRCS President Younis al-Khatib told Al Araby TV.

He said evidence such as the video proved “the falsehood of the occupation’s narrative”, adding that the Israeli army communicated with the paramedics before killing them.