Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Pope Leo, the Vatican says, a day after an Israeli strike on Gaza’s sole Catholic church killed three people and injured several more, Reuters reports.

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 statement reads.

Leo also stressed the urgent need “to protect places of worship, the faithful, and all people in the Palestinian territories and Israel”, the statement adds.