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CV NEWS FEED // The pastor of the only Catholic parish in Gaza recently told AsiaNews that although the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is not the solution to the conflict, it is a crucial development.
“It will be a long road, but we thank God for this truce,” said Father Gabriel Romanelli, according to the Jan. 15 AsiaNews article. “We call on Him to ensure that the commitments are respected and that this will be the beginning of the end of this war, leading truly to peace between Palestine and Israel. A peace based on justice and reconciliation.”
Fr. Romanelli serves in Gaza as pastor of Holy Family Parish. He explained that the adjacent school on the property is currently housing 500 people, mostly Greek Orthodox Christians and some Muslim neighbors, who are residing in classrooms that were converted into living spaces.
According to AsiaNews, Fr. Romanelli also said in a video posted Jan. 15 to his Facebook page that the ceasefire deal’s “implementation will be very complicated.”
Along with the stipulations of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released, as well as military withdrawal, Fr. Romanelli explained that there are also rumors of people returning to northern Gaza, but little information is available about this possibility.
“Out of the 1.1 million people living in this area before the war, currently 400,000 are left. Hundreds of thousands of people are thus in the southern part, in tents, caravans or containers waiting to return,” he said, according to AsiaNews. “Then there is the issue of the many wounded who urgently need treatment, especially abroad, because most of the health system here has collapsed under the bombings.”
Fr. Romanelli’s statement that the ceasefire is but one step in the road to peace reiterates last week’s message from Catholic leaders in the Holy Land on the ceasefire. In a Jan. 16 statement, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, comprised of 27 bishops, eparchs, and exarchs, stressed that “[g]enuine and lasting peace can only be achieved through a just solution that addresses the origin of this long-standing struggle.”
