by Dario Salvi

The vicar of Anatolia describes a "widespread feeling" that unites the government and the population, which is experiencing "great concern" like the whole region. The Jewish state continues to strike, from Gaza to Lebanon: at least 22 dead in Beirut, while the UNIFIL mission was targeted in the south. A synagogue was vandalised in Izmir. As the pope said, even in this conflict the "economy of arms" prevails.

Milan (AsiaNews) – In Turkey, as in the rest of the region, there is "great concern" in the face of "this senseless [military] escalation", characterised by a "disproportionate and ineffective response" by the Israeli army (IDF), this according to Bishop Paolo Bizzeti, vicar of Anatolia, who is currently in Italy but who continues to follow the reckless winds of war blowing across the Middle East.

From the Holy Land, triggered by the Hamas terrorist attack of 7 October 2023 to which Israel responded with massive bombings in Gaza and raids in the West Bank, the winds have moved recently to the "northern front" with Hezbollah in Lebanon and, in the background, the open war with Iran.

This worrying picture of destabilisation fuels an escalation and could set the entire region on fire, because of its many unresolved situations. This, the prelate warns, has unleashed "anger" against the Jewish state, “which does not work beyond any ethical consideration: one cannot, just because one is stronger, attack indiscriminately."

The vicar of Anatolia says that the government and the population are on the same wavelength towards the war launched by Israel first in Gaza, and then expanded to involve Lebanon with the prospect of further enlargement to Iran.

"There is a widespread condemnation for what is happening. They have the courage to say openly what many others in Europe think, but which is difficult to say openly and directly,” the prelate explains.

"Turkey has taken a clear side, not accepting a reprisal of this magnitude" which is disproportionate in the intensity, breadth and toll of victims, displacement, and destruction it has caused.

This year, fears and concerns have increased, because a process has been triggered that worries the whole Middle East" where there is a "clear risk of a broader conflict" of which "people are afraid."

Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets continue to strike Beirut and large areas of Lebanon. Yesterday alone least 22 people were killed and over 100 wounded in a series of raids that hit the capital, while in the south two Indonesian soldiers of the UN mission were injured in an attack by Israeli against UNIFIL positions.

The latter has elicited a harsh condemnation, among others, from Turkey as well as Italy, whose Minister of Defence calls it a "deliberate act" and does not rule out the possibility of "war crimes".

In addition, a UN investigation whose findings were published yesterday highlights a "concerted policy" by Israel aimed at "destroying Gaza's health system" within the framework of the conflict that amounts to "war crimes and crimes against humanity" with the aim of "extermination".

Illustrating the report, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says "relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities" have caused very serious damage to "children in particular".

The Israeli government also seized the land on which the headquarters of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Jerusalem is located, with the goal of building 1,440 housing units for settlers.

The ongoing conflict does not only have an impact on diplomacy and relations between states, there is also an economic backlash as evinced by trends in the trade balance between Turkey and Israel.

“Business between the two countries was great, but is now in a crisis,” said Bishop Bizzeti. In the Middle East everything is intertwined, when a critical event happens in one area there are always repercussions elsewhere" even if "it is not always easy to understand what the direct connections are. And the whole area is affected.”

The war, albeit indirectly, is already creating consequences for the country: "If, on the one hand, there are no major changes in the clash with the Kurdish minority that continues, there are already heavy consequences with regard to the refugee issue, with internal repercussions that weigh on the population" from a social and economic point of view.

There are no critical issues, however, "with regard to relations between Christians and Muslims or, more generally, on the ethnic-confessional level."

However, there are some tensions. Two synagogues were reportedly vandalised in Izmir, on 7 October, a year after the Hamas attack that triggered the conflict in Gaza.

The synagogues of La Sinyora and Algazi were targeted, tagged with red ink writings and references to the Koran. The authorities have arrested one person, while fears are growing in the local Jewish community, as Nesim Bencoya, coordinator of the İzmir Jewish Heritage Project, told Bianet.

"In a context of war and tension, an increase in the level of security is inevitable around embassies, consulates, the so-called sensitive points that are overprotected for fear of 'mavericks' who can strike,” explains the vicar of Anatolia. “It is normal that this kind of danger exists, but it is a more general element that concerns many countries in the world".

Finally, at a "humanitarian level", peace efforts are underway or at least for a stable and lasting truce in the fighting but so far it has not achieved the desired results.

"Turkey is one of the few countries really doing something to alleviate the suffering of a civilian population on the verge of exhaustion in Gaza, where the situation is unsustainable.

“As Pope Francis has repeatedly said, arms trafficking and an economy of war that proliferates are behind this war, conditioning political choices, which clash with the voices of peace of many, a feeling shared among peoples.”

• turkey
• israel
• gaza
• palestine
• lebanon
• iran
• war
• hamas