Israel’s actions in Gaza are “inexcusable,” according to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

He visited Gaza on Friday, the day after the tank attack of the only Catholic church in the region, the Parish of the Holy Family. The explosion killed three people and injured several others, including the pastor, Father Gabriel Romanelli.

Speaking to Vatican Media, Pizzaballa said the images of the attacked church and Gaza itself that stick with him compared to previous visits, “are those of the vast expanses of tents that weren’t there before.”

“When I went, everyone was in the south, closed off by the Netzarim corridor. They’ve moved back up, and now there are more than a million people without a place to live. Especially along the seafront, there are long stretches of tents, where people live in extremely precarious conditions, both hygienically and in every other way,” the cardinal said. “And then, the other image is the hospital: The children mutilated, blinded by the effects of the bombings.”

He also spoke to Vatican Media about the church complex, where hundreds of people have been staying, in an effort to avoid the violence of the war.

Mass was celebrated there on his visit, just a day after the tank attack.

“Yes. I’m always amazed, I must say. These few hundred people, it’s true, are very well protected, but they’re not exempt from the same problems as everyone else: Lack of food – they haven’t seen vegetables or meat for months – like everyone else, in short,” Pizzaballa said.

“But I see, even in children, certainly tiredness, but also vitality, desire. As long as there’s a person who has the desire to do something, to change, it means there’s still life in them, and I’ve noticed this,” he added.

The cardinal also said the Palestinian people will stay in Gaza, despite the fact Israel is ordering its evacuation.

“They don’t know where to go, first of all, but they don’t want to leave either, because they have their roots there, their home there; or rather, they had their home there, and they want to rebuild it there,” he said, adding that Pope Leo XIV has been very clear in saying no transfers of populations from Gaza.

“There will be no rivieras in Gaza,” Pizzaballa said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of depopulating Gaza and transforming it into a U.S.-owned resort area.

“The pope said … among other things, the prohibition of ‘collective punishment’ must be respected,” the cardinal said, saying Leo was very clear and very strong.

“I would like to clarify one thing: We have nothing against the Jewish world, and we absolutely do not want to appear to be against Israeli society and Judaism, but we have a moral duty to express with absolute clarity and frankness our criticism of the policies this government is adopting in Gaza,” Pizzaballa said.