Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, on Tuesday released a pastoral
letter to the faithful of his diocese equally condemning the
October 7 surprise Hamas attack on Israel and the Israeli
retaliatory strikes on Gaza.
"My conscience and moral duty require me to state clearly that
what happened on October 7 in southern Israel is in no way
permissible and we cannot but condemn it," wrote Italian-born
Pizzaballs.
"There is no reason for such an atrocity," he continued,
insisting that "we have a duty to state this and to denounce
it".
"The same conscience, however, with a great burden on my heart,
leads me to state with equal clarity today that this new cycle
of violence has brought to Gaza over five thousand deaths,
including many women and children, tens of thousands of wounded,
neighborhoods razed to the ground, lack of medicine, lack of
water and of basic necessities for over two million people,"
added Pizzaballa.
"These are tragedies that cannot be understood and which we have
a duty to denounce and condemn unreservedly.
"The continuous heavy bombardment that has been pounding Gaza
for days will only cause more death and destruction and will
only increase hatred and resentment.
"It will not solve any problem, but rather create new ones. It
is time to stop this war, this senseless violence," he wrote.
"It is only by ending decades of occupation and its tragic
consequences, as well as giving a clear and secure national
perspective to the Palestinian people that a serious peace
process can begin.
"Unless this problem is solved at its root, there will never be
the stability we all hope for.
The tragedy of these days must lead us all, religious,
political, civil society, international community, to a more
serious commitment in this regard than what has been done so
far.
This is the only way to avoid other tragedies like the one we
are experiencing now. We owe it to the many victims of these
days and to those of years past. We do not have the right to
leave this task to others," said Pizzaballa.
On Tuesday Palestinian health officials said 5,300 people have
now been killed and approximately 18,000 others injured in
Israeli retaliatory strikes on Gaza sparked by the Hamas
militant incursion into the Jewish state two Saturdays ago.
According to Israeli sources, around 1,400 people have been
killed in Israel since October 7, the vast majority in the Hamas
attacks themselves.
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