By Francesca Merlo
The International Day of Solidarity for the Palestinian people has been observed on the 29th of November for almost 50 years. Since its establishment by the United Nations in 1977, the day has served as a global reminder of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, as well as the continued hope for a peaceful resolution to decades long instability.
This hope includes the possibility of the partition of Palestine, or the two-state solution, for which Pope Francis, too, has affirmed and reaffirmed his support, including most recently during his General Audience on the 22nd of November, in which he emphasised the importance and the urgency of dialogue and recognition between Israelis and Palestinians.
All eyes on Gaza
As we mark this day, this year, in particular, the gaze is on Gaza, where over one year of tireless Israeli military offensives have devastated the area. According to humanitarian organisations, over 45,000 people have been killed in the attacks, including thousands of children. Meanwhile, 9 out of 10 Gazans have been displaced.
The incredibly high numbers speak a thousand words, painting a dire image of the situation on the ground. But, actually, “we have run out of words to describe the situation in Gaza”.
Speaking to Vatican News, Marta Lorenzo, head of UNRWA for Europe, repeats the word her colleagues in Gaza have used to describe their surroundings: “catastrophic”.
Describing a ‘catastrophe’
As if the scenario were not bad enough, the arrival of heavy rain and low temperatures have made the situation worse. “Just imagine what this means for a family with small children, or for people with disabilities, or for cancer patients” says Lorenzo, reminding us that whilst the situation is inhuman, these are very real lives, often already facing unimaginable hardships. Imagine, she repeats, “for people who are in a very vulnerable situation to lose everything they have”, before adding that, “all they have is their makeshift shelter”.
As of Wednesday, 7000 families had been affected by the heavy rains, and now, “on top of the risk of being killed by a strike, we have to add the risk of diseases”. Unfortunately, when rain falls diseases spread, and in Gaza “there are not enough medical supplies or functioning medical facilities”.
The people are already starving, warns Lorenzo. “We see famine on a daily basis”.
“My colleagues told me that mothers cannot breastfeed their babies”. In northern Gaza, where we estimate 65,000 to 75,000 people remain, “there are no community kitchens or functioning bakeries”.
Sadly, the whole humanitarian operation is under a lot of stress, “and people do not have the resilience anymore.” This, Marta Lorenzo says, “is what we mean by ‘catastrophic’.”
Decades of displacement in Gaza and beyond
But the difficulties of the Palestinian people go even further. “Eighty-four percent of Gaza is under evacuation orders”. That means around 1.9 million people. And Lorenzo warns that “every time you get displaced, you become more vulnerable”.
But as we can tell from the establishment date of International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (1977), “displacement is not something new for the Palestinians”. Palestinian displacement, in fact, dates back to 1948 during what the Palestinians call the Nakba (or “catastrophe”), in which over 700,000 Palestinians were either forcibly displaced or forced to flee their homes during the Arab-Israeli War that broke out after the establishment of the State of Israel.
To this day, many of these refugees, along with their families, still live in camps across the region, stateless and unable to return. More displacement occurred throughout various conflicts since then, for example the Six-Day War in 1967, during which 300,000 Palestinians were displaced.
However, since the 7th of October, 2023, when Hamas millitants launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 more hostage, displacement has taken on a new form. Now the scale and form of displacement are unprecedented and Lorenzo clarifies that it is not just happening in Gaza, but also in the West Bank and in Lebanon. “There is a sense of despair and people are asking: when is this nightmare going to end?”
Where is the international community?
Around the world people feel the plight of the Palestinian people, and especially that of those in Gaza. As they lie, very much awake, in this nightmare, fourteen months on, “the people who have lost everything and need everything” cannot help but feel abandoned, and according to Lorenzo, they ask, again and again “where is the international community?”
Despite protests worldwide, “the abandonment is reflected in the very few aid trucks entering the Gaza strip”. For the people in Gaza, “international solidarity means there is a push for a ceasefire, a push for bringing hostages home, and a push for making aid adequate and sustained over time so that people can resume their lives.”
Pope Francis’ closeness to the people of Gaza
Joining in the call for a ceasefire in the Gaza strip is Pope Francis, along with the entirety of the Catholic Church. “We need calls like his to end the suffering of the people”, says Lorenzo, adding “we need this solidarity”.
She explains that “we know that the absence of peace and violence only brings more violence and suffering. A ceasefire is long overdue.”
Before and after
Marta Lorenzo reflects on how things have changed since the 7th of October. Things were already difficult in the Gaza strip, but before the war UNRWA was working and providing education to children in Gaza.
“I’m talking about the lives and dreams of 600,000 children that have been interrupted”. Now, she says, these children spend their days sifting through rubble or standing in line to fetch water or food. If they are lucky, they will receive one meal a day, and sometimes that meal is just bread. “This not acceptable. They need to go home. They need to be in a safe, learning environment.”
Hope in the darkest of times
In light of this darkness, Marta Lorenzo recognises that what Pope Francis says when he asks for prayers for peace, “is that even in the darkest times, we should never lose hope”. He is right, she concludes. For the people of Gaza, of Palestine and of all the Middle East “we should never give up on peace, and humanity must prevail.” – Vatican News
