Evacuation order issued for Gaza parish neighbourhood

Fr Gabriel Romanelli - screenshot from April 2025 interview

Source: Vatican Media

Fr Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of Holy Family Church, the only Catholic Church in Gaza, says "an evacuation order has been issued for the entire neighbourhood," as Israel advances a plan to relocate Palestinians.

"An evacuation order has been issued for the entire neighbourhood. And they said they're starting to distribute tents," Fr Gabriel Romanelli told Italian press agency ANSA today, (18 August).

His statement came as Israeli forces advanced plans to relocate thousands of Palestinians from northern Gaza, where the parish is located, to designated zones in the south, drawing international concern over worsening humanitarian conditions.

Fr Romanelli asked: "where can they find the space for all the inhabitants" of the Gaza Strip, "two million three hundred thousand people?"

He said that during Mass on Sunday they "heard a very loud explosion nearby that broke a water tank," while underlining that "luckily, nothing happened, only material damage...... Another Sunday of war.."

An Israeli airstrike hit al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least seven people, according to local health officials.
Fr Romanelli also spoke about "contradictory signs," saying there seems to be an evacuation order in place, while an "association distributed some vegetables, tomatoes, and potatoes," which people welcomed.

The Israeli military has described the relocation plan as necessary to protect civilians as fighting continues.

Thousands of people protested in Tel Aviv over the weekend, saying this plan of action could put in danger the lives of the around 20 hostages still being held by Hamas. Hamas has also rejected the plan.

A month after the July 17 attack on the Catholic parish itself, which caused three deaths and several injured, including Father Romanelli, whose leg was slightly hurt, the parish priest highlighted that "the children require everything."

On the conflict situation in general, he commented that "there is no agreement; they do not want to release the hostages, or only partially; the other side says 'no, all together'... the only thing that is certain is that the bombs continue to cause deaths of civilians and children; the numbers are terrible."

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See an interview by TeleSUR with Fr Gabriel from April this year: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsJfLC9WmC8