Gaza

Hamas’s number two was killed yesterday in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. For Hezbollah leader Nasrallah: "This crime will never pass”. Lebanese Prime Minister Nagib Mikati is intensifying contacts to prevent the conflict between Israel and Hamas from spreading to Lebanon. The Israeli army is preparing for “any scenario." On Sunday, Maronite Patriarch al-Rahi called for a halt to hostilities that have been ongoing for weeks at the border.

The elimination of IRGC General Razi Mousavi in Syria is a new step in an increasingly regional conflict. The departure of Russian troops from Syria has left a vacuum that gives Iran “room for manoeuvre”. Lebanese civilians are fleeing the south, especially Christian villages. For many, Christmas Mass was but the calm before the storm.

Speaking to AsiaNews the Latin Patriarch reviews the dramatic events of the last period, the war, the killing of the two Christian women. A "preventable" death, impossible to mistake them for Hamas militiamen. Conflict causes pain that divides, everyone "locked in their own." Jerusalem and Bethlehem's silence, failure to visit Gaza. Starting over with people, "to rebuild."

The victims are said to be mother and daughter, at least five wounded one of them seriously. The attack is reportedly still in progress, snipers opening fire indiscriminately. Earlier heavy shelling in the area, also hit the house of Mother Teresa's nuns. Behind the assault the (unfounded) rumors of a missile launcher hidden inside the parish yards.

Stuck in Jerusalem, Fr Romanelli is in constant contact with his assistant parish priest and the faithful sheltering in his church. His many requests to Israeli authorities to go back “have fallen on deaf ears.” He is the "voice and memory" of Christian victims and those who suffer. A truce is needed, as people are dying even from the flu in Gaza. “Even one more minute of war means more deaths, wounded, untreated sick people, destruction,” he bemoans.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health warns that Gaza faces “the spread of epidemics, infectious diseases, malnutrition and the lack of clean drinking water and personal hygiene.” About 327,000 cases of infectious disease have been detected. The situation is having catastrophic repercussions on children’s health. Women are forced to deliver babies at home because it is too dangerous to go to a hospital.

Despite diplomatic efforts and the 'restraint' shown by the Shia movement on the border, the spectre of a regional explosion remains. Between 80 and 100 thousand inhabitants of border villages in the south have fled to various locations further north in the country. A cease-fire in Gaza is also the way to ease tension in Lebanon. Unresolved knots remain over compliance with Resolution 1701 for an end to hostilities on the border.

In this interview with AsiaNews, Avi Dabush, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, looks back at the tragic hours when terrorists attacked Kibbutz Nirim. Despite the fear and the violence, he considers the release of the hostages to be paramount and has launched a new outreach programme in the West Bank. For him, it is time to work for rights and justice. In Gaza, the parish of the Holy Family was also hit; a water tank and solar panels were destroyed.

The Maronite prelate Msgr. Nassar emphasises that for 12 years the Syrian population has been living "in a situation of incessant danger". The vain wait for peace broken by conflict, poverty, pandemic and earthquake. Without the new generations 'the Church loses its foundation and has no future' like the rest of the country. The Wfp will suspend its food aid programme from January.

"Fierce fighting" is underway in the Strip, but violence is mounting in the West Bank as well. Since the end of the truce, more than a thousand Palestinians have been killed. The families of Israeli hostages meet and slam Netanyahu. A Danish scholar remembers Gaza’s historical, cultural, and artistic value to Christians, Muslims, and Jews. The future of its people is at risk.

Global revenues will fall in 2022 in the armaments sector. The turnaround is not due to a drop in demand but to the difficulty in finding materials. The Middle East is the only region to register growth, driven by Turkey and Israel. Baykar, a company linked to the Turkish leader, marks the highest percentage growth figure in the world, with +94% over 2021.

The Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land talks about the situation between Israelis and Palestinians. Mistrust is growing between the two communities even in daily life. He fears a new Christian exodus when the war ends. Those in the international community who want to help should not take sides, but ought to “understand the suffering of both” in a war in which “we have all already lost.”