Pope Francis again expressed his “concern and sorrow” over conflict in the Middle East in his Angelus address last Sunday.
Speaking in St Peter’s Square, he repeated his plea, “not to yield to the claims of war but rather to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy, which can achieve much”.
“Every day, I pray for peace in Palestine and Israel, hoping these two peoples can soon end their suffering,” he said.
At his general audience on Wednesday, the Pope prayed that “they may be two states, free and with good relations”.
The former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah said that the war in Gaza “must stop without further delay because it is no longer a war, it is a massacre”. Writing in America, he called for Israelis and Palestinians to build peace with international support.
Referring to Israel’s “friends”, Sabbah warned that “making Israel militarily stronger, to win wars but remain insecure, is not friendship or true help to Israel”.
He insisted that, “on this holy land, there is room for both peoples to exercise the same political rights: two states, each at home, independent, free and capable of resisting a return to war.”
He said the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians made it “virtually impossible for them to live a normal, humane life and raise their families on their own land”.
Following the withdrawal of the Israel Defence Forces from the Al Shifa and Nasser Hospitals in Gaza last week, local relief teams unearthed mass graves containing hundreds of bodies, including of women and children. The United Nations called for a full investigation of the graves “in a way that is credible and independent”.
There have been increased detentions of West Bank Palestinians since Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October. The number of Palestinians in prison is thought to be more than 10,000, mostly held in “administrative detention” meaning without charge.
Christian groups have focused on 23-year-old Layan Nasir, who was taken at gunpoint from her parents’ home in the West Bank town of Birzeit on 6 April. There was no arrest warrant or charges, but she now faces being held administrative detention for a four-month stretch.
She is the only Palestinian Christian woman currently in Israeli detention. The Revd Munther Isaac, pastor of Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem has said “Layan is just one of thousands of Palestinians who are in detention with no charges (including more than 85 women)”.
On 17 April Human Rights Watch issued a report titled “West Bank: Israel Responsible for Rising Settler Violence”. It said the Israeli military either supported or did not protect Palestinians from violent settler attacks in the West Bank, which have displaced people from 20 communities since 7 October 2023.
“Settlers and soldiers have displaced entire Palestinian communities, destroying every home, with the apparent backing of higher Israeli authorities,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch.
“While the attention of the world is focused on Gaza, abuses in the West Bank, fuelled by decades of impunity and complacency among Israel’s allies, are soaring.”
The report said that armed settlers, with the active participation of army units, repeatedly cut off road access and raided Palestinian communities, detained, assaulted, and tortured residents, forced them out of their homes and off their lands at gunpoint or coerced them to leave with death threats, and stopped them from taking their belongings.
Violence over the past six months has displaced over 1,200 people, including 600 children, from rural herding communities. At least 17 Palestinians were killed and 400 wounded, while Palestinians have killed seven settlers in the West Bank, according to the UN. The IDF did not reply to questions from Human Rights Watch on 7 April.
The head of the Order of Friars Minor has urged the Franciscans not to abandon their 800-year-old presence in the Holy Land, despite the dangers posed by the conflict.
Fr Massimo Fusarelli told the Franciscan-run magazine Custodia that on his own recent visit to Israel he had found the friars “hurt by everything that is happening” but “determined to remain”.
Fr Fusarelli, who was appointed minister general of the Friars Minor in 2021, said: “Many are going away from both the peoples of this land. Even the Christians are leaving. We are remaining. Of course, we do not have our families or our children here. Perhaps it is easier for us. But staying here is a very great sign.”
Fusarelli added that for the Franciscans of the Holy Land remaining did not mean being “shut up in our convents” but “staying with the people and then remaining as intercessors”.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York returned to US from the West Bank after cutting short his scheduled visit by two days described his experience of the Palestinian Church to US Catholics.
“I saw that the Christian communities, and in particular the Catholic community led by Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, are held in high regard,” he reported.
“In particular, in the grave situation that developed following the 7 October attack, our efforts to always use words of peace, to promote a mindset of encounter is recognised and appreciated well beyond our small communities.”
Loading ...
