ROME (CNS): In the same week US president, Donald Trump, reiterated his idea of emptying Gaza of more than two million Palestinians so it could become a “Riviera of the Middle East,” Pietro Cardinal Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said one of the “key points” of what must happen in Gaza is “no deportations.”
Cardinal Parolin spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony at the Embassy of Italy to the Holy See February 13 marking the signing of the Lateran Pacts of 1929 in which the Vatican and the Italian state recognised each other as sovereign nations and normalised relations.
Trump had first said the US would “take over” Gaza and “own” the strip of land, which faces the Mediterranean Sea and borders Egypt and Israel, during a February White House press briefing alongside Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Smaller than the West Bank—the other territory making up the Palestinian state—the Gaza Strip was established as a refuge for Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes during the war in 1948, which ended with the establishment of the State of Israel.
We have to find a solution, and the solution in our opinion is a two-state solution because this also means giving hope to the people
Cardinal Parolin
Asked by reporters at the White House February 9 if he would force the exodus of Palestinians, Trump said, “You’re going to see that they’re all going to want to leave,” according to The Associated Press. He claimed in an interview with Fox News the same day that Palestinians would not want to return “because they’re going to have much better housing” somewhere else.
According to Vatican News, Cardinal Parolin told reporters that “neighbouring countries are not willing to take in refugees]; we heard for example the king of Jordan recently who absolutely said ‘no’.”
An unnamed Italian official had noted that any mass deportation “would create tension in the area,” the cardinal added.
“We have to find a solution, and the solution in our opinion is a two-state solution because this also means giving hope to the people,” the cardinal said.
Cardinal Parolin said, “A just peace is needed.” Diplomatic efforts are continuing and “there is lots of activity, many small openings.”
In a February 15 interview with L’Eco di Bergamo, the cardinal said, “Everyone can contribute to peace, but solutions must never be pursued through unilateral impositions that risk trampling on the rights of entire peoples,” he said, “otherwise, there will never be a just and lasting peace.”
