Fr. Ibrahim Faltas, Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, reiterated the call for global intervention to assist children and pregnant women in Gaza.
“Many children have been left orphans, and many mothers have lost their children,” he said in an interview with SIR news agency, according to Vatican News.
Fr. Faltas noted the conflict’s severe toll on civilians, especially women and children, highlighting that over 9,000 Palestinian women have died since the conflict began on October 7, 2023.
The priest said the world cannot “our eyes and hearts to hungry and scared children” and to some 60,000 pregnant women in Gaza who “suffer from hunger and malnutrition in their delicate and important condition: that of giving life”.
An initiative to transfer children requiring medical treatment from Gaza to pediatric hospitals in Italy, following an agreement with Italian authorities, represents a glimmer of hope.
The first group of children arrived on January 29, indicating progress in providing essential care.
Fr. Faltas’s plead for aid and his call to meet the basic needs of the vulnerable urge the international community to unite in support. He warned against ignoring the plight of the innocent, stressing our collective responsibility to act swiftly.
“We can’t just tell them that their hunger must wait until the powerful people of the world have given their permission to feed them,” he said.
“Let us pray that the light of truth that defeats hypocrisy may touch consciences. We defend those who suffer the evils of war, we try to be the voice of those who no longer have a voice to ask for truth, justice, and peace,” he added.
