(ZENIT News / Jerusalem, 11.08.2024).- In a web conference hosted by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) on November 4, two Christian leaders from the Holy Land gave a grim assessment of the worsening humanitarian and political crises engulfing Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank. Joseph Hazboun, CNEWA’s regional director in Jerusalem, reported unimaginable devastation in Gaza after 14 months of relentless conflict, which has displaced 90% of the population and left its infrastructure in ruins. Gaza’s hospitals, schools, and churches have been bombed, Hazboun explained, with even Christian institutions like the Holy Family School and the School of the Rosary suffering irreparable damage.
Hazboun noted that this conflict has reached a level of destruction that “exceeds any prior experience,” citing Israel’s intensified offensive over the past year as retaliation for a 2023 Hamas attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis. Humanitarian aid, already limited, has become almost impossible to deliver after Israel rescinded UNRWA’s authorization to operate in Gaza on November 4, putting the main lifeline of assistance at risk.
The conflict’s impact is also catastrophic in Lebanon, according to Michel Constantin, CNEWA’s Beirut regional director. Since Hezbollah’s October 2023 rocket attacks on Israel from Lebanon’s southern border, Israel’s Defense Forces have retaliated with extensive airstrikes that have displaced over 1.2 million people, most fleeing to the north in search of safety. With a quarter of the country under Israeli evacuation orders, entire towns have been emptied, and Constantin estimates that “nearly 90% of the southern population has left,” many now taking refuge without adequate shelter, power, or heat as winter looms.
Constantin fears Lebanon is on the brink of a new humanitarian crisis. The destruction and population shifts could destabilize communities, especially as displaced Shiite families resettle in the Sunni-majority north. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s already fragile economy faces further collapse under the strain of ongoing conflict and displacement.
The West Bank, too, has seen heightened unrest, as Israeli raids in search of Palestinian militants have devastated local agriculture and driven away the vital tourism sector. Hazboun said that olive farmers—many of whom depend on the harvest for their annual income—are especially affected, unable to reach their fields due to escalating settler violence. The social fabric between Palestinians and Israelis is also fraying; “life in Jerusalem appears calm, but the tension is unbearable,” he noted. Fear has forced many in the Christian community to stay close to home, a stark change in daily life.
CNEWA’s humanitarian director, Michael La Civita, emphasized that these challenges are driving Middle Eastern Christians to emigrate, especially as Gaza’s Christians—numbering only a few hundred—face increasing marginalization. Once 20% of the region’s population, Christians now make up barely 1% in the Holy Land, La Civita explained. He cautioned that if global intervention doesn’t ease the suffering, “Christian communities in the Middle East could face extinction.”
International efforts to halt the violence are ongoing, but CNEWA’s call for “prayers, informed support, and solidarity” reflects a dire need for immediate intervention. Caritas Internationalis, joining a coalition of over 150 aid organizations, urged the UN in October to act against the “escalating civilian casualties in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.” Meanwhile, the U.S. has demanded that Israel improve humanitarian aid access in Gaza, with diplomatic pressure mounting as Washington reviews military aid conditions.
“We are all called to seek justice and peace,” La Civita stated in a plea to American Catholics, underscoring that every act of compassion—from donations to advocacy—can “offer solace to those who feel abandoned.”
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