Israel said Thursday that it “deeply regrets” a deadly strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church, which killed three people.

Top church leaders in Jerusalem headed into Gaza Friday in a rare solidarity visit to the territory one day after an Israeli shell slammed into its only Catholic church, killing three people.

During the call, the pope renewed his appeal for a ceasefire and an end to the war in Gaza, and expressed his concern over the "dramatic" humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave, a Vatican ...