MILAN (AsiaNews): The ceasefire news that Gaza was eagerly awaiting was welcomed by prayers for peace at the parish of the Holy Family, in Gaza City.
“People are celebrating because, as Pope Francis said so many times, war is a defeat for everyone,” said Incarnate Word Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest, in a video on his Facebook page on January 15.
“The truce is good news, even if its implementation will be very complicated,” he notes. He added, “The mechanism is long and complex; some details have not yet been disclosed. But what is known is that the Israeli hostages will be freed after suffering for almost a year and a half deprived of their freedom. On the other hand, the Palestinian prisoners held by the State of Israel” will also be released, but the “list has not yet been provided.”
In addition to military withdrawal and the permission for humanitarian aid, two other aspects are being looked at. “There is talk of people returning to northern Gaza, but few details so far,” Father Romanelli said, noting that “out of the 1.1 million people living in this area before the war, currently 400,000 are left. Hundreds of thousands of people are thus in the southern part, in tents, caravans or containers waiting to return.”
He added, “Then there is the issue of the many wounded who urgently need treatment, especially abroad, because most of the health system here has collapsed under the bombings.”
“The ceasefire is not the solution to the conflict, but it is an absolutely necessary step,” Father Romanelli said.
