CWN - A delegation from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has returned from a visit to Gaza’s small Christian community.
The 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict began on July 8 and paused on August 26 after Egypt brokered a ceasefire. 66 Israeli soldiers and six Israeli civilians died in the conflict, as did over 2,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians.
“We visited the district of Sajaya, where 80% of homes and other buildings have been reduced to heaps of rubble,” said Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem, according to a Fides news service report. “We saw things which can only be compared with the situation of cities razed to the ground during the Second World War.”
“The young people there have already seen three military campaigns against Gaza, and each time the destruction is greater than the time before,” he added. “It will be years before the city can return to its previous situation. This feeds discouragement, dries up hope for the future. Even in the small Christian community, many dream of moving away.”
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