(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Christian priests and nuns based in Gaza City will remain to help displaced people sheltering at two churches despite the Israeli military’s plans to conquer the city, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
“At the time of this statement, evacuation orders were already in place for several neighborhoods in Gaza City. Reports of heavy bombardment continue to be received. There is more destruction and death in a situation that was already dramatic before this operation.
It seems that the Israeli government’s announcement that ‘the gates of hell will open’ is indeed taking on tragic forms,” the Patriarchates said.
Hundreds of civilians have been sheltering at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza City and the nearby Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church. Both churches have come under Israeli attack, including the recent IDF tank shelling of the Holy Family Church, which killed three Christians and injured Father Gabriel Romanelli, a Catholic priest from Argentina.
Nuns with the Missionaries of Charity, a congregation founded by Mother Teresa, have had a presence in Gaza since the 1970s and have taken care of disabled Palestinians at the church since well before October 7, 2023.
“Like other residents of Gaza City, the refugees living in the facilities will have to decide according to their conscience what they will do. Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months,” the Patriarchates said.
“Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence. For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds,” they added.
Israel’s plans for the takeover of Gaza City involve the forced displacement of more than one million Palestinians sheltering there. The idea is to push them into southern Gaza, and from there, the Israeli government wants to pressure them to leave Gaza altogether, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have made clear their ultimate goal is the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territory.
According to numbers from the UN, at least 11,600 Palestinians have been displaced from north Gaza to southern Gaza since the Israeli military announced its plans to take over Gaza City and ramped up airstrikes and shelling of the city.
“This is not the right way. There is no reason to justify the deliberate and forcible mass displacement of civilians,” the Patriarchates said. “It is time to end this spiral of violence, to put an end to war and to prioritize the common good of the people. There has been enough devastation, in the territories and in people’s lives. There is no reason to justify keeping civilians as prisoners and hostages in dramatic conditions. It is now time for the healing of the long-suffering families on all sides.”
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
