Pope Leo XIV directed that 5,000 doses of antibiotics be sent to Gaza as humanitarian aid deliveries resumed to the Gaza Strip following the implementation of a peace plan.
The medications were sent through the Office of Papal Charities, and are intended for the children of Gaza, said Vatican News. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which administers the Latin-rite Catholic churches in the Holy Land, facilitated the distribution of the antibiotics to Gazan hospitals and medical centers.
“We are putting into practice the words of the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, dedicated to the poor,” said Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
He continued, “It is necessary to act, to pay attention to those in need.”
Dilexi te is the first apostolic exhortation of Pope Leo XIV's papacy. In Dilexi te, Pope Leo challenges readers to consider how they treat the poor and impoverished.
Peace plan "a first step," says Cardinal Pizzaballa
On Monday, October 13, the remaining living Israeli hostages were released by Hamas back into Israel after more than two years in captivity. The hostages were released as part of the peace plan agreed upon earlier in October, and Israel agreed to move troops in exchange.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said in an October 9 statement that the plan was "good news, and we are very happy."
"It is a first step, the first phase. Of course, there are many others, and surely there will be other obstacles. But now we have to rejoice about this important step that will bring a little more trust for the future and also bring new hope, especially to the people, both Israeli and Palestinians," he said.
Pizzaball did, however, note that "life inside Gaza will remain terrible for a long time" as the negotiations continue.
"But now we are happy and we hope that this is just the beginning of a new phase where we can, little by little, start thinking not about war, but about how to rebuild after the war," he said.
Hospitals in Gaza lacked basic necessities
The antibiotics were something sorely needed in Gaza's medical facilities. Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, hospitals in the Gaza Strip were severely impacted and had trouble keeping basic medical supplies in stock.
In July, three people were killed after an Israeli tank fired a shell at Holy Family Parish, Gaza's only Catholic church. The Israeli government and Israeli army both said the church was not targeted and the damage was unintentional.
At that time, Alistair Dutton, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, the international aid organization of the Catholic Church, said that two of the three deaths were avoidable. They died, Dutton claimed, due to a lack of "very basic medical supplies" at a local hospital where the injured were taken.
Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of Holy Family Parish, was injured in the July attack.
“The conditions in the hospital are deplorable,” said Fr. Romanelli in July, noting, “Most of the hospitals in the strip have been destroyed.”
