Christians in Gaza keep their hope intact a few days before Christmas

The director of Caritas Internationalis, Alistair Dutton, stated that the Christian community in the Holy Land maintains its hope intact, a few days before Christmas, despite the terrible difficulties that the region is going through, as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas.

A hope that, he assured, “has a connection with the divine, with something that is bigger than the difficulties you feel at that moment.”

Christians, deeply affected materially and spiritually by the war, have an urgent need to hold on to that which maintains “the meaning of their life within their own land,” Dutton told Vatican News. Caritas is the humanitarian aid organization of the Catholic Church, the second largest of its kind in the world.

For the community, keeping hope alive is transcendental, a matter of survival, what allows them to “maintain their strength and their sense of future.” However, the director of Cáritas specified that hope cannot be a mere superficial feeling.

“Hope is a journey to really discover something deep within us that really gives us strength, rather than holding on to things and saying they give us hope. “I think that sense of hope is very important,” he said.

Furthermore, he explained that Cáritas was already working in the areas most affected by the war in the Holy Land even before the conflict began in October 2023. Today, the situation is very difficult: it is “almost impossible” to move humanitarian aid within Gaza. and the West Bank, so supplies in these regions are “almost zero.”

Medical supplies, specifically, are a big concern. Dutton noted that the organization’s volunteers work at all times to improve this situation. “We have already helped more than 1.6 million people in the last 13 months since the attacks through our emergency response: in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank, that is, in Palestine in general,” he indicated.

“This includes health, food support and basic equipment, such as helping people with bedding, pots and pans, things to cook and eat, mental health and psychological support, shelter and some hygiene kits and water supply. So, through our teams, we are doing everything we can,” added the director of Caritas Internationalis.

Dutton stressed that it is the responsibility of the international community to mediate to allow the entry and distribution of aid in Gaza and the West Bank. “Under international law, the international community must put serious pressure on so that people do not suffer so atrociously,” he said.

Finally, Dutton said that ending violence “is not as easy as blowing the final whistle and having the war stop in a moment.” Regarding Lebanon, he said that the ceasefire with Israel “is today very precarious” and innocents continue to die. He stated that he hopes that peace can be achieved over time and that both sides “can take a step back.”