Italy: During a visit to Italy, Franciscan friar Ibrahim Faltas, a member of the Custody of the Holy Land, delivered a stark warning about the deteriorating conditions in Gaza and the wider Holy Land, describing them as “truly inhumane” and urging the international community to act.
Speaking to Toscana Oggi, Fr. Faltas painted a grim picture of daily life in Gaza, where civilians especially children suffer from hunger, thirst, heat, and deprivation. “People continue to die from basic necessities being denied,” he said, adding pointedly, “Where is the international community? Where are human rights?”
The Franciscan highlighted that while schools have reopened in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, children in Gaza have been out of school for two years, deprived of education, healthcare, and even the ability to play safely. “They have known nothing but war, fleeing, hiding, destruction, and rubble,” Fr. Faltas explained. The humanitarian crisis, he emphasized, is not confined to Gaza alone.
Bethlehem, he said, has effectively become an open-air prison. With checkpoints closed, many who used to work in Israel or rely on tourism have been cut off from livelihoods. The local Christian community is shrinking rapidly, with 185 families over 700 people leaving the city due to economic hardship and insecurity. “If things continue like this, there will truly be no Christians left,” he warned.
Amid this despair, Fr. Faltas pointed to a gesture of hope: a pilgrimage by bishops from Tuscany to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in June. The visit, he said, was both courageous and deeply impactful, reminding the local Christian population that they are not forgotten. “Everyone appreciated the visit people still remember it,” he reflected.
Fr. Faltas’ testimony underscores the urgency of humanitarian intervention in Gaza and the wider region, highlighting not only the material suffering of its people but also the existential threat facing the centuries-old Christian communities of the Holy Land.