The small but devout Christian community in Gaza is slowly starting the process of rebuilding after Israel and the genocidal terrorist organization Hamas agreed to a peace deal, brokered by the White House, this week, Father Gabriel Romanelli of Gaza City’s Holy Family Church said on Monday.
The Holy Family Church is the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas for nearly 20 years. It has provided refuge for Palestinian civilians fleeing Israeli self-defense operations against Hamas in the last two years of war, prompted by the Hamas massacres and abductions on October 7, 2023. In July, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) mistakenly struck the church, killing three; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally apologized for the error.
Throughout the war, Father Romanelli has provided daily updates online in his native Argentine Spanish regarding the status of the Christians of Gaza. This weekend, the priest published remarkable images of children singing in the church, following the news that Hamas had accepted a proposal to end the Gaza war.
On Monday, he published a video titled, “The Hoped-For Day Is Here!” in response to the enactment of the Israel-Hamas peace deal, which resulted in the release of all remaining living October 7 hostages and the signing of a long-term plan, brokered by President Donald Trump, to rehabilitate Gaza and eliminate the threat of Hamas.
Father Romanelli noted in the video that many Christians in Gaza remain in disbelief, worried that the current ceasefire will not hold and IDF strikes will resume.
“The bombing stopped, the drones – you can hear them, the noise of the drones, but the fact that you can’t hear the bombing is a great good,” Father Romanelli said on Monday, sharing images of the Holy Family Church and the rubble surrounding it and throughout Gaza. “The fear that the war will return is here, I’m not going to say that it’s not here. However, in every moment – especially in meetings that various leaders are holding, including several Middle Eastern and world leaders – one can come to believe that that’s it for the war.”
“It is not easy,” he continued, “people see us around and say ‘it’s over’ in disbelief, and it isn’t for any less.”
Father Romanelli described Gazans as easily panicked by noises, fearing the next strike or other military clash, and suggested they would need time to fully internalize the fact that a peace deal had taken effect. Nonetheless, he noted, morale was improving following the peace agreement.
“We are truly exhausted, but happy,” he said, noting that “health wavers” for many in the congregation, and infections from basic cuts or mosquito bites were common.
“We hope that just as it started, it will continue … true peace, permanent peace for all the inhabitants of the Holy Land,” Father Romanelli wished.
Vatican News reported on Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV had ordered the delivery of more shipments of medications for children in Gaza in response to the tremendous need in the region.
The Catholic Church has been largely receptive to President Trump’s peace proposal, a 20-point plan he debuted in September that required an immediate ceasefire, the return of all October 7 hostages and the bodies of those who died in captivity, and the release of a large number of hardened Palestinian criminals, offered due process and convicted for crimes in Israel. Asked about the proposal when the White House first released it, Pope Leo called it “realistic” with “very interesting elements.”
“We hope Hamas accepts within the established timeframe,” he offered reporters.
Last week, after news broke that Hamas accepted the agreement, the top Catholic authority in the region, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, published a video celebrating the news.
“It is good news, and we are very happy,” he declared, adding that obstacles remain, “but now we have to rejoice about this important step that will bring a little more trust for the future and also bring new hope, especially to the people, both Israeli and Palestinians.”
“We know that the road ahead is still long. There will be many obstacles; it will not be easy. But it was a necessary first step that brings an atmosphere of trust and even a smile to many families, both in Israel and Palestine, and especially in Gaza,” he asserted.
Pope Leo chimed in again this week, declaring that “the agreement to begin the peace process has brought a spark of hope to the Holy Land.”
“Let us ask God, the only true Peace of humanity, to heal all wounds and to help, by His grace, accomplish what now seems humanly impossible,” the pope wrote in a message on social media, “to rediscover that the other is not an enemy, but a brother or sister to look upon, to forgive, and to offer the hope of reconciliation.”
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