On October 7, 2023, alarm bells rang in Israel, as the security of one of the countries with the strongest intelligence services in the world was threatened.
The Palestinian group Hamas attacked up to 24 different points near the Gaza border, killing nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 Israeli hostages.
This began the escalation of an unprecedented conflict, one in which the Israeli government declared a state of war and began to counterattack in the strip.
There are already 42,000 victims and almost 100,000 injured. Schools have been devastated and hospitals have collapsed. In January, bombs reached the only Catholic parish in Gaza.
From the beginning, Pope Francis has not only called for an end to the war in his public appearances; he also has made small daily gestures to Gaza.
POPE FRANCIS
Every day I call the parish in Gaza. There are more than 600 people there, in the parish and the school, and they tell me about the things that happen there, including the cruelties that occur.
But his closeness is not just a phone call. The pontiff went so far as to invite a group of Palestinians and families of Israeli hostages to the Vatican. They met with the pope separately.
The Bambino Gesù, the pediatric hospital of the Holy See, also welcomed several families whose children needed medical care and services they could not receive in Gaza.
As for the Holy See, its position on the conflict remains the creation of two states with a special protectorate for Jerusalem.
MONS. PAUL RICHARD GALLAGHER
Secretary for Relations with the States
And I think a lot of people, while recognizing that it's a very, very difficult decision, realize that it's probably the only option on the table at this point. And, as we know, if there is the political will to go through with it, it can happen. It is a very, very difficult decision, and we know that. But this situation is so serious, what we have already witnessed is so terrible that going down this path is necessary.
Both Israel and Palestine have diplomatic representation at the Holy See. The Israeli embassy was opened in 1994, while the Palestinian embassy was opened in 2017.
TR: JD
