The news reports that a cry pierces the minute of silence at the commemoration of the massacre committed by Hamas a year ago at the Nova Festival in Israel. On October 7, 2023, over 1,200 Israelis were killed, massacred by the horror of the Hamas group’s violence. That same day, 240 hostages were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
Israel’s response was swift. For weeks and months, Israel’s armed forces bombed, looted and reduced Gaza’s infrastructure to rubble. The 2.1 million inhabitants are now refugees on a scorched earth, mourning over 41,788 dead in these daily attacks. The entire population lives in an open-air prison, in tents, braving not only Israel’s attacks, but also hunger, cold and disease. It’s a far cry from “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”…
Israel is becoming a rogue state, because an occupying force must protect the occupied population, but humanitarian aid is trickling in with total indifference on the part of those in charge. Israel does not respect any international convention, shamelessly targeting hospitals, mosques and schools. Just yesterday, 26 people died in an attack on a mosque and a school.
The figures are staggering; in one year, Israel has dropped 75,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, a territory the size of the island of Montreal. What counts now is “total victory”… but at what price ?
And the spiral of violence is growing. For a week now, Lebanon has been the victim of Israeli bombardment, with over 2,000 dead; Iran, for its part, is awaiting Israel’s retaliation. The conflict threatens to engulf the entire region. And no ceasefire negotiation is on the agenda, with each side locked in total blindness.
The words of the prophet Jeremiah pierce our hearts: “In Ramah is heard the sound of moaning, of bitter weeping ! Rachel mourns her children, she refuses to be consoled because her children are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15). But these are not words from 2600 years ago; they are words that describe the harsh reality of our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, especially in Palestine !
The excess of violence strikes at the very foundations of our hope. And yet… We are all called to hope against all hope. In a world where evil seems to be taking up more and more space, declaring victory, the small, ordinary gestures of sharing, justice and solidarity enable us to safeguard a share of humanity. Taking the measure of horror is a first step. But committing to support an urgent effort for Palestine and Lebanon, so that children, women and men can find refuge, a morsel of bread, a little comfort, is also within our grasp.
Pope Francis has called for a day of fasting and prayer on October 7, the sad anniversary of the attack in Israel. In a letter sent today to Catholics in the Middle East, he writes: “People today do not know how to find peace. As Christians, we must never tire of imploring peace from God. That is why, on this day, I have urged everyone to observe a day of prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting are the weapons of love that change history, the weapons that defeat our one true enemy: the spirit of evil that foments war, because it is “murderous from the beginning”, “a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44). Please, let us devote time to prayer and rediscover the saving power of fasting !”
I invite you to read the full text of this letter: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2024/documents/20241007-lettera-cattolici-mediooriente.html
Today, I am deeply united with the peoples of Israel, Palestine, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Iran. I pray for peace. I fast so that the hunger for justice and solidarity may nag at us to the point of making concrete commitments. May this martyred land see the flowering of a true and lasting peace, where “new heavens and a new earth” will enable us to see the day when we will all be brothers and sisters !