One year ago today, Hamas terrorists attacked kibbutzim along Israel’s frontier with the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages.
Israel’s response was immediate and unrelenting, killing nearly 42,000 people since 7 October 2023 — including children, women and the elderly — and displacing about 1.9 million people.
As the conflict escalates in Lebanon, threatening to pull the entire region into conflict, more than one million people in the suffering nation have been driven from their homes, flooding to Beirut and the north of Lebanon.
“A year ago, the fuse of hatred was lit; it did not sputter, but exploded in a spiral of violence, in the shameful inability of the international community and the most powerful countries to silence the weapons and put an end to the tragedy of war. Blood is still being shed, as are tears,” wrote Pope Francis in a letter to the Catholics of the Middle East on 7 October.
Gaza’s small Christian community, although itself suffering from the violence, is providing food packages, potable water, shelter, medical care and counseling to those most in need. CNEWA-Pontifical Mission continues to support programs and partners like the Orthodox parish of St. Porphyrios and the Near East Council of Churches in their efforts to respond to the needs on the ground.
“And you, brothers and sisters in Christ who dwell in the lands of which the scriptures speak most often, are a small, defenseless flock, thirsting for peace,” Pope Francis wrote. “Thank you for what you are, thank you for wanting to remain in your lands, thank you for being able to pray and love despite everything.”
For more updates, visit the CNEWA blog.