PALESTINIANS returning to their homes in the north of Gaza have been confronted with ruins; and the United Nations has said that a “massive effort” will be required to provide essential supplies.
On Tuesday, the acting director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Sam Rose, told BBC News that Palestinians who had left northern Gaza were returning to “scenes of complete devastation”.
“Since the ceasefire came into effect a week ago, basic aid supplies have been coming in; so we’re able to provide food, some water, basic shelter supplies, some monitoring of particularly vulnerable cases. But it’s a massive, massive effort ahead of us,” he said.
A further three Israeli hostages were due to be freed yesterday, bringing the total released to ten. In exchange, more than 300 Palestinians who were being held in Israeli prisons are reported to have been released since the ceasefire and hostage-exchange deal was agreed earlier this month (News, 24 January).
On Monday, a spokesman for the Israeli government said that eight of the remaining hostages due to be released in the first six weeks of the deal were dead.
The ecumenical Holy Land Coordination meeting of bishops gathered from 18 to 23 January. Organised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and visiting Christian communities in the West Bank, the group comprised eight bishops, including the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun.
In a communiqué released on Thursday of last week, they expressed hope that the “fragile ceasefire agreement . . . would hold.
“We came looking forward to those, in both Israel and Palestine, who have suffered the atrocities of violence and war, being able to rebuild their shattered lives, to mourn the loss of their loved ones, to come together again as families and to start on the long, uncertain road to recovery,” they wrote.
Addressing Christians in the occupied West Bank, the bishops said: “Your communities are a light in the darkness of a suffering Land. We were moved to hear how often Christians expressed their commitment to stay and rebuild the lives of their people.”
The expansion of illegal Israeli settlements had made “enclaves” of Palestinian communities, they said. “We hear your cry for peace with justice and your anxiety at what will happen when the focus turns away from Gaza; what will happen to your land.
“There is a clear need for the international community to act together to facilitate realistic and radical development assistance, as part of a process towards achieving a lasting peace.
“We came to tell you that you are not alone; you are not forgotten.”
They expressed the hope that, when pilgrims return to the Holy Land, they will visit not only the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, Galilee, and Bethlehem, but also Christian communities in other Palestinian towns, “so they too can draw inspiration from your faithfulness to the Land in which Jesus was born”.
Reflecting on his experiences after the visit, Bishop Chessun said that the Israeli government’s move to ban UNRWA (News, 1 November 2024) threatened to push the West Bank “to the brink of collapse”.
UK funding for UNRWA was suspended a year ago after Israel alleged that some of the agency’s staff had been involved in the 7 October attacks (News, 2 February 2024). Funding was resumed under the new Government in July, after the publication of a review that recommended increased screening for UNRWA staff, but found no evidence to support Israel’s allegation.