Gaza Strip

The Latest

Gaza-based journalist Akram Al Satarri spoke with “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol from Khan Yunis about the state of the southern area of the Gaza Strip, Jan. 3, 2024.

Gaza journalist says escalation of war is ‘inevitable’ 

Jan 4, 2024

By Francesca Pollio Fenton

Gaza-based journalist Akram Al Satarri spoke with “EWTN News Nightly” about the state of the southern area of the Gaza... Read more

Roman Catholic Church of Holy Family in Gaza City.

Nahida and Samar: Mother and daughter killed in attack on Gaza parish

Dec 18, 2023

By Eduardo Berdejo

Vatican News reported Dec. 16 that Samar Anton was killed while she was trying to help her mother, Nahida Anton,... Read more

Catholics in Jerusalem gather on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, for a prayer vigil to implore from God the gift of peace for their land.

PHOTOS: Catholics gather in Jerusalem for a prayer vigil for peace

Nov 9, 2023

By Marinella Bandini

The event took place at the Terra Sancta High School of the Custody of the Holy Land, located in the... Read more

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.

Latin patriarch of Jerusalem asks for donations in face of suffering, hatred in Holy Land

Nov 7, 2023

By Andrés Henríquez

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa explained that it is “charity and prayer” that have animated the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem “in times... Read more

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, imparts the blessing in front of the aedicule of the Holy Sepulcher on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, where Jesus’ tomb is venerated. Here ends the Way of the Cross that the Franciscan friars celebrate every Friday.

Jerusalem patriarch Cardinal Pizzaballa: The Lord ‘wants me to bring his grace to this place’

Nov 3, 2023

By Marinella Bandini

“We do not pray for those who are right or wrong. We pray for those who are at war,” Jerusalem... Read more

Workers distribute medical aid and medicines to Nasser Medical Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, which recently arrived through the Rafah crossing on Oct. 29, 2023, in Khan Yunis, Gaza.

U.S. bishops renew call for peace in the Holy Land

Oct 31, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

The U.S. bishops are renewing their call for peace in the Holy Land as the Israel-Hamas war moves towards it... Read more

Workers prepare to distribute medical aid and medicines to Nasser Medical Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, which recently arrived through the Rafah crossing on Oct. 29, 2023, in Khan Yunis, Gaza.

UN refugee director: Needs in Gaza ‘immense,’ aid ‘meager and inconsistent’

Oct 30, 2023

By Daniel Payne

The U.N. said Sunday that “thousands of desperate people” had “stormed U.N.-operated warehouses” and other aid distribution centers in the... Read more

Displaced Palestinians who fled their houses amid Israeli strikes wait at a food distribution point as they shelter in tents set up in a United Nations-run center following Israel's call for more than 1 million civilians in northern Gaza to move south, in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 26, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

EU leaders to call for humanitarian corridors in Gaza as war rages

Oct 26, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

Leaders will call for the establishment of “humanitarian corridors and pauses” to transport aid to civilians into the Gaza Strip. Read more

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Oct. 20, 2023.

Cardinal Pizzaballa: For Christians in Gaza Strip, temptation is to look for future elsewhere

Oct 25, 2023

By CNA Staff

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, speaks about the situation in the Holy Land in a recent interview... Read more

A general view of tents set up for Palestinians seeking refuge along the Gaza Strip on Oct. 20, 2023, in Khan Yunis, Gaza.

Catholic Relief president on aid to Gaza: Let’s ‘get it going,’ ‘take care of these people’

Oct 20, 2023

By Joe Bukuras

The leader said he was hoping for a quick reopening of border access in Gaza and deployment of aid to... Read more

Mass at the Church of the Holy Family for the Latins, Gaza.

‘We lack food and medicine’: Catholics in Gaza take refuge in only parish church

Oct 18, 2023

By Suhail Lawand

Holy Family Church is the only Roman Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip and is located in the northern part... Read more

Smoke increases after Israeli airstrikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 10, 2023.

What you need to know about the war between Israel and Hamas

Oct 17, 2023

By Diego López Marina

The ongoing tension in the Middle East has flared up again in a war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian... Read more

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, patriarch of Jerusalem.

Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem offers to be exchanged for hostages held by Hamas

Oct 16, 2023

By Courtney Mares

Israel Defense Forces announced Monday that 199 Israeli hostages, including children, are being held by Hamas. Read more

Leaders of churches in Jerusalem issued a statement calling for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Heads of churches in Jerusalem call on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to go to Gaza 

Oct 13, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

“We call upon all parties to de-escalate this war in order to save innocent lives while still serving the cause... Read more

A house is completely destroyed after being burned by Hamas militants during the attack at Kibbutz Be'eri, near the border with Gaza on Oct. 11, 2023, in Be'eri, Israel.

Caritas Jerusalem suspends activities in Gaza and Israel but announces emergency plan

Oct 11, 2023

By Diego López Marina

Caritas Jerusalem, which serves the needs of people in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem, reported that some of... Read more

Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza at Christmas 2021.

Pastor of only Catholic church in Gaza: ‘Never have we seen things like this time’

Oct 10, 2023

By Julieta Villar

Father Gabriel Romanelli expressed his gratitude for the closeness, concern, and prayers, along with the “hundreds of messages” he receives... Read more

A picture taken in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Oct. 7, 2023, shows burnt-out vehicles outside a residential building hit in a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 300 reported killed by Hamas insurgents at Israeli music festival

Oct 9, 2023

By Daniel Payne

The Supernova music festival being held near Kibbutz Re’im in southwestern Israel, just a few miles from the Gaza Strip,... Read more

Pope Francis greets the crowd at his Regina Caeli address on May 14, 2023.

Pope Francis prays for cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians

May 14, 2023

By Courtney Mares

The pope spoke hours after a truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants in Gaza went into... Read more

Four Israeli families who have been fighting to see their children for eight and a half years met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Dec. 21, 2022. Two young men are still alive, kidnapped by Hamas. Two others died, but their bodies were not returned, thus preventing a proper burial, one of the Jewish mitzvahs. Three are Jews, and one is Muslim.

Families of Israeli captives in Gaza Strip appeal to Pope Francis

Jan 8, 2023

By Andrea Gagliarducci

When Pope Francis once again launched the appeal for peace in the Holy Land, he probably had in his eyes... Read more

Theodosios (Atallah Hanna), the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, delivers a speech during a demonstration in Beit Jala in the West Bank May 17, 2021 to express solidarity with Gaza and Sheikh Jarah. Credit: Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images.

Gaza's only Catholic priest calls Israel-Gaza violence 'extremely serious'

May 17, 2021

By Blanca Ruiz

The sole Catholic priest in the Gaza Strip has warned of the severity of the recent violence between Israel and... Read more