Cáritas Internationalis issued a statement on “The famine caused by man and the attack on the city of Gaza”, after the last incursion of Israel’s defense forces in the enclave, where the United Nations declared the famine last week.
“This is not a war. It is the systematic destruction of the life of the civilian population,” said the renowned Catholic organization of humanitarian aid in its statement on August 25. “The siege of Gaza has become an annihilation machinery, sustained by impunity and silence, or complicity, of powerful nations.”
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“The famine here is not a natural disaster, but the result of a deliberate strategy: blocking help, bombarding food convoys, destroying infrastructure and denying basic needs,” declared the humanitarian organization.
“Cáritas Internationalis is witnessing this horror.” The statement continued: “civilians, mostly children and women, are killed, are bombarded and exterminated. Influential governments, corporations and multinationals have allowed this catastrophe, through military support, financial aid and diplomatic coverage.”
Cáritas condemned the “empty statements and common places” of the international community in response to the difficult situation of the Gazati.
“Caritas Internationalis sees in Gaza a deliberate attack against human dignity and the collapse of moral order, a failure of leadership, responsibility and humanity itself,” said the organization.
“In the light of the spirit that guides us, Caritas strongly hate all these acts and omissions. They represent a flagrant contempt of the fundamental values and principles of humanity and clearly violate international humanitarian law, human rights and numerous provisions of the specific conventions of the United Nations, including the Convention for the Prevention and Sanction of the Crime of Genocide.”
The statement was published after an Israeli attack impacted the Nasser hospital in Gaza on Monday, “killing at least 20 people, including five journalists,” according to Reuters.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamín Netanyahu, wrote on social networks after the attack: “Israel deeply regrets the tragic accident today at the Nasser de Gaza hospital. Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians.”
“The military authorities are carrying out an exhaustive investigation,” he added. “Our war is against Hamas’s terrorists. Our righteous objectives are to defeat Hamas and bring our hostages home,” he said.
Israel also issued a statement after attacking the only Catholic parish of Gaza last month, stating that “a diversion of ammunition” had caused an accidental attack against the Church of the Sagrada Familia. Three people died and nine were injured, including the parish priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli.
Cáritas concluded his overwhelming statement with a list of demands, which include a high full and immediate fire, humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages and “the end of Israel’s illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
“The famine in Gaza is a proof of moral integrity, and there are too many who have disappointed. Killing a population is desecrating life. Staying silent is being complicit,” said the organization.
“Cáritas Internationalis appeals to all people of faith and conscience to raise their voice, press their governments and demand justice. The world observes. History is registering. And Gaza expects, not words, but salvation.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Low Elhabbal
Madalaine Elhabbal is a CNA journalist based in the Washington DC office in EWTN. He has published articles in Catholicvote and has also worked as a foreign language assistant in France. She is a graduate of Benedictine College.