Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 31, 2023 / 13:11 pm
The U.S. bishops recently renewed their call for peace in the Holy Land as the Israel-Hamas war moves toward its second month and the casualties of the conflict continue to grow.
“The war in the Holy Land is playing out in real time before us with its mounting casualties, the growing humanitarian disaster, and the potential for violent regional and international escalation,” Rockford Bishop David J. Malloy, the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, said in a statement.
Malloy said the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in which the terrorist group shelled Israel and breached the Israeli border with ground troops, “must be condemned.” The attacks led to more than 1,300 deaths and quickly resulted in Israel’s declaring war against Hamas.
More than 8,000 Palestinians have subsequently died in Gaza amid the war, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.