After the attack with Israeli missiles to the only Catholic Church of Gaza this week, which left three dead, the regional director of the field office in Jerusalem of the pontifical mission, Joseph Hazboun, spoke on July 18 with Ewtn News Nightly about the situation faced by the inhabitants of the region.
Hazboun, referring to the phone call of Pope Leo XIV with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, expressed his hope that “more pressure is exercised to end this tragic and meaningless war that has gained so many lives.”
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Pope León also asked for a stop on immediate fire through a telegram and social networks after the deadly attack.
Recently, the organization managed to buy fresh vegetables in a local Gaza market – something that, according to Hazboun, “surprised us due to the general scarcity of food” – and distributed them, in cooperation with the Council of Iglesias del Near East, to more than 500 families.
The pontifical mission also acquired and distributed five and a half tons of flour, which delivered another 500 families. Hazboun lamented “the tragic news of people who go to the distribution centers and are killed only for a few kilos of flour.”
According to Hazboun, before the war that exploded after the attacks of October 7, 2023, the Christian community in Gaza was very active. “There were about 17 centers that provided services,” he explained, including hospitals, schools, cultural centers and scout groups.
“It was a very vibrant community. Unfortunately, during the war many of these institutions were attacked and are now inoperative,” he added.
“The YMCA does not work,” he continued. “The Arab Orthodox Cultural Center is destroyed … so, unfortunately, we are not sure how everything will be after the war. Everything depends on how many remain in Gaza.”
However, Hazboun claimed to be “sure” that many Christians will remain in Gaza.
He stressed that the message of the pontifical mission for the Gazatis, especially young people, has been that “while watching Gaza as their homeland, we will support them and do everything possible so that they can have a dignified life and visualize a future in Gaza.”
“If they decide that they no longer have a future in Gaza, that is their decision; we respect it and ask for the blessing of God where they decide to go,” he concluded.
Translated and adapted by Diego López Marina. 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.