Members of a delegation from the United Nations and OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, made a surprise visit to Holy Family Church on Tuesday, July 1.
The visit was reported by Agenzia S.I.R. (SIR), the news agency of the Catholic Church in Italy.
Holy Family Church is the only Latin Catholic parish in the Gaza strip. It currently is hosting about 500 Christians who have been displaced due to the ongoing conflict, said SIR.
"It was their first visit here to the parish,” Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, Holy Family Church's parish priest, told SIR.
“The delegation wanted to see our conditions, greeted our displaced people and collected their testimonies of concern. Despite the critical situation, the UN representatives visited the parish premises, toured the compound, and also dedicated time to the severely disabled children, all from Muslim families, lovingly cared for by the nuns of Mother Teresa.”
The Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Mother Teresa, have had a presence in Gaza since 1973. Their convent is located on the grounds of Holy Family Church.
Members of the U.N. delegation also said a prayer for peace, said Fr. Romanelli.
“When they said goodbye, they thanked us for the work of solidarity and hospitality that we carry out for the Christian community and for the many Muslim families who live in need here in our neighborhood," he told SIR.
Caritas joins call on aid distribution
Caritas Internationalis, the international aid organization of the Catholic Church, joined more than 160 NGOs in calling changes to the existing aid distribution system in the area, and a ceasefire.
At its website, Caritas called the Israeli distribution scheme in Gaza, including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation "deadly." The aid organization urged a return to UN-coordination of aid distribution, which have gone from 400 point to four military-controlled sites.
Palestinians in Gaza today are confronted with an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while attempting to secure food for their families. The weeks following the launch of the Israeli distribution scheme have been among the deadliest and most violent since October 2023.
In less than four weeks, over 500 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 4,000 injured while attempting to access or distribute food. Israeli forces and armed groups — some reportedly backed by Israeli authorities — routinely open fire on civilians risking their lives to survive.
The joint statement said the "normalization of suffering" has to stop.
"States must reject the false choice between deadly military-controlled food distribution and total aid denial," said Caritas in a July 1 statement published online.
"They must uphold international humanitarian and human rights law, including prohibitions on forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks, and obstruction of aid. They must ensure accountability for grave violations of international law," said the statement.
"We reiterate our urgent calls for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, full humanitarian access at scale, and an end to the impunity that enables ongoing atrocities and denies Palestinians their dignity."
