The parish priest of Gaza’s only Catholic church says “an evacuation order has been issued for the entire neighbourhood”, as Israel advances a plan to relocate Palestinians. Source: Vatican News.
“An evacuation order has been issued for the entire neighbourhood. And they said they’re starting to distribute tents,” Fr Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Church, Gaza, told the Italian press agency ANSA yesterday.
His statement came as Israeli forces advanced plans to relocate thousands of Palestinians from northern Gaza, where the parish is located, to designated zones in the south, drawing international concern over worsening humanitarian conditions.
However, he asked, “where can they find the space for all the inhabitants” of the Gaza Strip, “2,300,000 people?”
Fr Romanelli said that during Mass on Sunday they “heard a very loud explosion nearby that broke a water tank,” while underlining that “luckily, nothing happened, only material damage.”
“Another Sunday of war,” the parish priest added.
Fr. Romanelli also spoke about “contradictory signs,” saying there seems to be an evacuation order in place while an “association distributed some vegetables, tomatoes, and potatoes,” which people welcomed.
The Israeli military has described the relocation plan as necessary to protect civilians as fighting continues.
Thousands of people protested in Tel Aviv over the weekend, saying this plan of action could put in danger the lives of the about 20 hostages still being held by Hamas. Hamas has also rejected the plan.
A month after the July 17 attack on the Catholic parish itself, which caused three deaths and several injured, including Fr Romanelli, whose leg was slightly hurt, the parish priest highlighted that “the children require everything.”
On the conflict situation in general, he commented that “there is no agreement; they do not want to release the hostages, or only partially; the other side says ‘no, all together’… the only thing that is certain is that the bombs continue to cause deaths of civilians and children; the numbers are terrible.”
FULL STORY
Fr Romanelli: Evacuation order issued for Gaza parish neighbourhood (Vatican News)
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