Amid the ongoing destruction and displacement in the Gaza Strip, people ask most for “food, food and food, because people are starving,” said Joseph Hazboun, regional director of CNEWA-Pontifical Mission for Palestine and Israel.
Based in Jerusalem, Mr. Hazboun said he sees the three greatest needs as food assistance, medical care and psychosocial support — but even the professionals providing psychosocial support are starving.
“We sleep starving. We wake up starving,” they tell him, but they continue to work, Mr. Hazboun told an online briefing on Gaza 10 September. He said some people eat once a day, but others only eat every couple of days.
In late July, a global collective that assesses food insecurity worldwide announced that “the worst-case scenario of famine” is underway in Gaza. Mr. Hazboun said Israel is impeding delivery of aid, allowing only about 10 percent of what is needed to enter the strip.
“You probably have seen the lines of trucks” at the border, said Mr. Hazboun. About 400 aid trucks are needed daily, he said, but that will only happen when peace is restored.
Israel demolished hundreds of U.N. distribution centers in Gaza and replaced them with fewer and militarized distribution centers. In Gaza, these facilities have been dubbed “death corridors,” because more than 2,500 people have been killed seeking aid there, he said.
He cited a litany of statistics since the Israeli-Hamas war began in October 2023: 2,073 have died of hunger; at least 65,000 people have been killed, including 247 journalists; more than 150,000 people have been injured, and that number takes in amputations, including of children.
“This is not war; it is a systematic destruction of civilian life,” Mr. Hazboun said.
“Whatever I say, the situation in Gaza is much worse,” he said. Heavy bombardment continues, “leading to new waves of mass displacements and civilian casualties.”
On 9 September, Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders for Gaza City, in anticipation of a ground incursion. But evacuation is “like playing chess with the people,” Mr. Hazboun said. People leave an area after an evacuation order and, weeks later, the area to which they moved is targeted by the military.
“Some families have reported being displaced 17 times,” he said, adding that 856,000 displacement movements have been reported since October 2023.
Like most people in Gaza City, families sheltering at the Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches “are extremely terrified and anxious regarding the recent evacuation orders,” but they will stay, because once they leave, “they will not be safe, they have no place to go,” he said.
Someone in Gaza recently told him, “ ‘The displacement is an open tomb,’ meaning it’s a death trap.” In addition, those who are displaced often cannot even find a tent and are living out in the open, he said.
“There is no safe place in Gaza, and I think the safest is in the churches,” he added.
Amid the famine, the collapse of the health care and education systems, and the ongoing military operations, “our mission has been to try to save as many lives as possible by providing immediate support,” Mr. Hazboun said.
He said donations from the United States, Canada and Europe have permitted CNEWA-Pontifical Mission to help with medical care, psychosocial support and food.
“What we can do depends on the means that we have,” he said. The agency works with five partners that still have staff in Gaza. Partner agencies will alert them when flour or fresh vegetables are available, and CNEWA-Pontifical Mission will get them funds to purchase the items from vendors it trusts from decades of work in Gaza.
Mr. Hazboun said CNEWA-Pontifical Mission has helped about 10,000 people, or 1,000 families.
“It’s like a drop in the sea,” he said. “But for those who are receiving this aid, it’s saving their lives.”
He told his audience it was “very important to continue to pray for peace.”
“The reality on the ground is very complicated,” he said, noting that it challenged everyone: people in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
“There is no meeting point between the minimum of what Hamas would accept and what Israel is aiming for,” he said, adding that Israel’s targeting of Hamas leaders in Qatar the previous day did not help the situation.
The lives of ordinary people do not seem important to those making military decisions, he added.
Besides offering financial help and prayer, he urged people to exert pressure on their government officials to stop military aid and weapons to Israel and to advocate for a treaty that includes the release of hostages taken by Hamas nearly two years ago.
“People are really exhausted, they’re traumatized,” he said. “They are victims of what is ongoing, and they are paying a heavy price.”
Watch a recording of the briefing.
To contribute to the work of CNEWA-Pontifical Mission in Gaza, donate online or call 800-442-6392.