Bombs wake Gaza pastor who tells AsiaNews about scores of dead and wounded
Fr Romanelli bears witness to the tragic escalation of Israel's war in Gaza against Hamas. The clergyman reports that more than 300 people were killed and more than a thousand wounded. His parish church was spared so it continues “to provide our service to everyone,” especially children and senior citizens. Gaza Catholics “pray for peace” with Pope Francis.
Milan (AsiaNews) – The winds of war are again blowing recklessly in Gaza after two months of a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas.
“The situation is very bad, we woke up with the sounds of bombing even if our area was not hit by shrapnel this time,” says Fr Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of Gaza’s Latin Church of the Holy Family, in a voice message sent to AsiaNews.
“However, as news reports follow one another, the story is the same: more people killed and wounded,” he laments. “One estimate puts the death toll at 300, but others put the figure at much higher. More than a thousand people are wounded.”
Overnight, Israeli planes struck several military targets and middle and high-ranking Hamas officials with a series of "extended raids".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Palestinian movement for failing to release hostages and launched what he considers a preventive action, because – according to information leaked in Tel Aviv – another 7 October was being planned.
In Gaza, Hamas leaders responded by accusing the Jewish State of wrecking the fragile truce, killing at least 350 people, including scores of women and children.
“We (in the parish) are fine for now, we try to continue to provide our service to everyone,” explained the Argentine priest of the Incarnate Word. “We visit the refugees whom we welcomed from the start and who continue to stay with us, especially the children of the Sisters of Mother Teresa and senior citizens. We have many elderly and sick people."
In addition to the practical work and daily commitment to the needy, the priest adds prayer a daily activity, as Pope Francis himself has done several times even from his hospital bed.
“We must continue to see beyond, pray for peace,” Fr Romanelli explained, “so that we may see the end to this war and see what the Lord asks of us every day, i.e. helping everyone.”
According to Palestinian sources, at least one Israeli hostage is among the victims of today's raids, ordered by Israeli leaders with the greenlight of US President Donald Trump. Over 350 dead, dozens of women and children, along with at least five Hamas leaders, including the head of the Hamas administration.
Israel’s radical right-wing, most notably Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, welcomed the strikes in northern Gaza, Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younif and Rafah, effectively gutting the fragile ceasefire of more than two months.
This also interrupts Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer, which Gaza’s more than two million Muslims were observing in what is a virtual open-air prison.
The winds of war worry the international community, starting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said he was “shocked” by Israeli airstrikes that killed so many civilians. The UN chief called for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of humanitarian aid for the population, as well as the unconditional release of Israeli hostages.
The Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed cites senior Egyptian officials, saying that Cairo has “invited a Hamas delegation to Cairo to discuss ways to stop the aggression in Gaza.”
For its part, Israeli daily Haaretz is reporting that the Israeli government has decided to sacrifice the remaining 59 hostages, sparking the latest action of their families to go to Jerusalem.
Urging the people of Israel to join them, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has called for a rally at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, to protest against the resumption of raids that ends the release of people who have been held for more than 500 days in the Gaza Strip.
(Photo taken from Fr Romanelli’s Facebook page)
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