Jerusalem, October 7(HS): As indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas opened in Egypt on Monday on a US-drafted plan to end the two-year-long war in Gaza, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, called on Christians in the Holy Land to help rebuild trust between Israelis and Palestinians.

Speaking to the Associated Press from his reception hall in Jerusalem’s Old City, Pizzaballa said Christians — representing just 1% of the region’s population — are uniquely placed to act as neutral bridges between warring communities.

“We are of no threat to anyone,” he noted, stressing that their role could be pivotal in shaping a shared and peaceful postwar future.Acknowledging the scale of the challenge, the patriarch admitted, “The respective communities are not ready for this. The wounds are there, very painful. The suffering, the misunderstandings. We have to start from this very sad reality and rebuild.”

On the eve of the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war, Pizzaballa voiced cautious optimism, saying hope was stirring among worshippers at Gaza’s sole Catholic church — struck by Israeli shelling in July but still serving its congregation and sheltering the displaced.

“People keep dying every day out there. But at least in the air, you feel something different, you hope that maybe this is going to finish,” he remarked.Describing the conflict’s broader impact, Pizzaballa warned it had shattered society’s fabric.

“This war made all the different issues — political, religious, economic, cultural — explode. Now we have to rethink everything anew,” he said, underscoring the moral and communal reconstruction needed after two years of devastation.

—————

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar