Catholics and more generally Christians in the Holy Land have long since begun to raise the tone of condemnation of Israel’s brutal methods against the unarmed civilian population. Very harsh, in this vein, is the position of the Holy Land Justice and Peace Commission: “As Catholics of the Holy Land who share Pope Francis’ vision for a peaceful world – stated the body in early July in the aftermath of yet another bombing of civilians – we are outraged that political actors in Israel and abroad are using the ‘just war’ theory to perpetuate and legitimise the ongoing war in Gaza.” The Catholic body’s pronouncement is echoed by another, this time from Caritas Internationalis, which, by the word of Alistair Dutton, the general secretary, after specifically condemning the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombings adds, “After nine months of war the atrocities continue. Nowhere is safe in Gaza”. On July 7, after the bombing of the Holy Family school in Al-Remal, Gaza, operated by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarchate also made its voice heard: “The Holy Family School and the surrounding area in Gaza – reads a note – were devastated by a raid, resulting in the tragic loss of hundreds of innocent lives. The school served as a sanctuary for displaced families, offering them a place of safety amidst the chaos… The Latin Patriarchate condemns in the strongest terms attacks on civilians or any belligerent action that fails to ensure that civilians remain outside the scene of combat”.
The devastation of Gaza, of the individuals who live there and of places, even the most traditionally inviolable such as schools, hospitals, and refugee camps, continues at such a sustained and undisturbed pace that it no longer seems to make the news. Between early and mid-July 2024, raids took place on various refugee camps in Khan Younis, Bureij and Nuseirat, resulting in hundreds of deaths including, of course, many children.
When I left, the situation was very tough because the shelling never stopped, not even for a day”
The Irish Catholic, in order to better understand the situation of the entire population of Gaza and, specifically, that of Christians, reached by phone Sr Nabilah Saleh, an Egyptian religious from the Rosary congregation in Jerusalem. She lived in Gaza for 13 years and served as principal of the Rosary Sisters school in the north of the Strip. She currently lives in Beirut, forced away from Gaza by a complex health situation.
Sr Nabilah what situation did you leave and what news are you hearing from Gaza?
“I left Gaza at the end of April, just before Israel conquered Rafah on the Palestinian side. Unfortunately, as there are no functioning health facilities I could not have stayed because of my health, but my heart remains there and I look forward to going back. When I left, the situation was very tough because the shelling never stopped, not even for a day. In every place, even in those places that are considered safer and calmer people are terrified. Nowhere in Gaza is safe, absolutely nowhere.
Israeli soldiers have returned to the Zaitoun neighborhood and others in the northern area where most of the remaining Christians live”
Christians have stayed in the north and are living daily uncertainty combined with enormous needs, there is a lack of food, water, electricity, now nothing comes to the north. When I left, I thought it couldn’t get any worse but I can tell you for sure, from the news I constantly get from our parishioners and volunteer teachers, that now the situation has worsened, in the last two weeks (between beginning of July and mid July, ed.) Israeli soldiers have returned to the Zaitoun neighborhood and others in the northern area where most of the remaining Christians live.”
What is the point of bombing schools, hospitals? It means snatching away any possible future for our people, even when this war ends”
Recently the Holy Family School in Al-Remal, run by the Latin Patriarchate, was bombed while in early November your Rosary School was destroyed by an Israeli raid. By now there are no safe havens and places such as schools and hospitals are being struck regardless….
“It is a frightening aspect, in the Holy Family school there were almost 400 refugees, about 45 people died or maybe more. In November, on the other hand, they literally razed our school to the ground. At that time there was nobody there because from the 11th day since the outbreak of the war our whole area was declared ‘red’ and we had to close, we all had to leave. When the situation calmed down a little bit, I went to see and it was all destroyed. I felt a pang in my heart, what is the point of bombing schools, hospitals? It means snatching away any possible future for our people, even when this war ends. Just think that we had 1,250 students, a school chock full of life. Now we don’t hear from our kids, we know that about 20 of them died with their families. It was a beautiful experience of coexistence between a minority of Christian kids and a majority of Muslims, which now has been all physically and morally destroyed.”
Speaking of bombed schools and inaccessibility, is the academic year off for all Gaza students of all grades?
“Since October 7, all schools have been closed and never reopened. All our students in Gaza have missed the year. And I don’t know what will happen because the fire does not cease and we don’t know what will happen for the next school year. There are teachers in our communities from our schools, who voluntarily do some lessons and activities to distract and vent the children, some do psychological support. The activities are also difficult because the presence is reduced, only the Sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Sisters of the Incarnate Word, the parish priest of the Holy Family Church and his deputy, Fr Gabriel and Fr Yusuf, remained”.
How is it possible to continue to hope in such a situation?
“When there is God, the God of history, there is always hope. The hope is that soon people will be able to go back to thinking about the future, to breathe the air of the future, now you can’t breathe it at all. I have been there for a long time and I know what the population suffers, you always live in tension, you don’t know if there will be a tomorrow, and that was even before the war. I can tell you, though, that the most beautiful experience I have had with the Christians in Gaza is to see that they still have so much faith.”
What if those old people dying of hardship, those fathers, those sisters, those brothers…were their own? This is my cry, and I hope the Lord will grant tenderness to hardened hearts to say enough is enough, people are out of breath”
What is your appeal to the world’s Christians and the international community?
“I hope that in Europe you can make your cry heard by your rulers, make it understood that what is happening in Gaza is the death of human rights, and for those who refer to rights this should be unacceptable. The veil has been unveiled, human rights are gone in Gaza, you can no longer see the dignity of the person, there is no respect. I ask those in charge to empathise with our situation for a moment: what if those starving children were their own? What if that mother who lost her whole family, what if those old people dying of hardship, those fathers, those sisters, those brothers…were their own? This is my cry, and I hope the Lord will grant tenderness to hardened hearts to say enough is enough, people are out of breath”.