Christian patriarchs make joint visit to shelled church in Gaza

Israel granted two senior Christian leaders rare access to Gaza after an Israeli strike on the Palestinian territory's only Roman Catholic church killed three people. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, led a delegation on Friday to the Holy Family Church, whose shelling the day before sparked international condemnation. Israeli authorities, which strictly control access to the besieged territory, permitted the visit after Benjamin Netanyahu said his country "deeply regrets" the strike on the church, where hundreds of Palestinians, including children and people with disabilities, have been sheltering. The Israeli prime…