Amid heavy Israeli bombardment, displacement and devastation, there had been one near-daily glimmer of hope in the Holy Family parish in Gaza City: an evening phone call from Rome. It was none other than Pope Francis, checking in on his small flock of Palestinian Christians sheltering in the church compound.

"Pope Francis stayed in constant contact. He made every effort to reach each of us by phone," George Anton, who is sheltering with his family in the compound, told DW. "From the very beginning of the war until the day before his death, he remained a daily presence in our lives. He never forgot us."

"He called us daily, even on the darkest days, under bombardment, when people were being killed and wounded around us," said Gabriel Romanelli, the Argentine priest who serves the Holy Family parish. "The communication was constant, day and night. Sometimes, because of the difficult situation in Gaza, it would take three or four hours of trying before the call finally got through. But he never gave up until he reached us."

The last time they spoke was on Saturday, Romanelli said: "He asked for our prayers, gave us his blessing, and thanked us for our commitment to peace."

There had been a constant number of around 1,200 Palestinian Christians in Gaza, but their numbers have dwindled in recent years in the

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