Israel

Fr. Romanelli entrusts his testimony to AsiaNews on his return after 7 months in the Strip: not a house is "intact", but we must look to the future. In the homily of the Pentecost Mass Card. Pizzaballa to the Christians of Gaza: "I have never heard a word of anger" from you, this is the "sign of your strength". The visit to a bakery destroyed by the war and recently reopened, which offers work to Christians and Muslims.

In Verona for the Arena of Peace the gesture of two people who have both lost loved ones in the Gaza conflict. The pontiff told the weavers of dialogue in the Holy Land: ‘Ask world leaders to listen to your voice, so that agreements are born from reality and not from ideologies’. ‘The sin of political regimes that have ended in dictatorships is not to admit plurality: only a society where conflicts are addressed and dialogue takes place has a future’.

According to the Israeli army they were killed immediately on 7 October during the attack on kibbutz Be'eri. The fate of six other Bangkok citizens believed to be in the hands of Hamas remains unknown, as does Nepalese student Bipin Joshi, Meanwhile, thousands of Thais are trying to find work again in Israel as farmers.

Patriarchate spokesman Farid Jubran tells AsiaNews: the community "happy and surprised" by an "unexpected" visit resulting from the patriarchate's diplomatic efforts. An "emergency" situation in which "food, doctors and medicines" are lacking. The humanitarian initiative of the Knights of Malta to meet the population's needs. The embrace with the vice-parish priest and the Greek Orthodox bishop.

The day that marks the birth of the modern State of Israel falls this year against the backdrop of the tragedy of 7 October and the war in Gaza. The risk of a political defeat is even greater than a military debacle. As Israel’s Declaration of Independence says, the challenge is "playing one's part in a common effort for the progress of the Middle East.”

Two years after the Palestinian Christian journalist was killed, her brother Anton talks to AsiaNews about her. The war in the Gaza Strip is a "shock" that she would have documented to "fulfil her mission as a journalist". The closure of Al-Jazeera is an attack on the press, a sign of Israel's "double standards". Her family continues the battle for the truth about her death.

About 50 homes in a village in the Negev have been razed to the ground, leaving hundreds of people homeless in one of the largest mass demolitions in recent years. For Ben Gvir, the homes were “illegal” and destroying them “an important step”. For the community, “We've sought a solution for years, hoping for a fair resolution.”

At the end of the summit in the Pyrenees, France and China issued a joint statement against any Israeli operation in Rafah, calling for “an immediate and sustainable ceasefire” and a “political settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-State solution.” Twenty-five years after NATO bombs hit its embassy in Belgrade, China warned: “we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself”.

The German-born Benedictine who leads the Dormition Monastery stigmatises the ‘fanatical’ attitude while ‘people are suffering, dying’. The opposing front seen as ‘monster’ or ‘animal’ to justify the violence. The rise to power of the ultra-right Ben-Gvir government has led to an escalation in anti-Christian attacks in the Old City. Like Jesus prayer and forgiveness in response to hatred, the way to reconciliation.

Today's news: Uyghurs in Xinjiang have the highest incarceration rate in the world, one in 26 in prison; Delhi begins expulsion of refugees from Myanmar; Seoul raises terror alert in five embassies in Asia amid fears of Pyongyang attacks; New passage of Chinese ships and fighter jets through the Taiwan Strait.

The pontiff met with the Jordanian monarch today at the Vatican. The Holy See noted the "cordial" conversation and the two sides’ shared commitments. For the Jordanian priest, the bilateral relationship is well established with Jordan as a “model” of Christian-Muslim relations. Both are concerned about the escalation in the region, while stressing the importance of tourism, especially “religious tourism”.

Today's news: at least 36 victims in Guangdong in highway collapse; Ankara wants to join South Africa in genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice; Bhutan is a pioneer in South Asia for primary health care (PHA); Heat wave and mismanagement cause a fish die-off in a reservoir in southern Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of animals dead.