Holy Land: Church deplores denial of emergency aid

George Akroush, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem director of Development Office

Source: ACN

As war rages across the Middle East, the dire situation of communities in the Gaza and the West Bank is being compounded by the state's decision to block aid - according to the head of the Church's development office.

George Akroush, director of the Development Office of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (LPJ), told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that, despite the ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli authorities have stopped emergency supplies from entering the strip.

Mr Akroush said: "Since Saturday, 7th March not a single humanitarian shipment was delivered to Gaza, including medication, spare parts for hospitals, not even antibiotics.

"We are trying our best to help the only Christian hospital there, which is very close to the Catholic compound, but all the channels that the Latin Patriarchate used to communicate with the authorities were closed.

"They say that everybody is involved in the war."

The move follows Israel announcing the indefinite closure of crossings into Gaza for security reasons from 1st March. The step was taken as a precautionary measure as violence escalated in the region.

According to Mr Akroush the move has forced the LPJ to rethink plans to reopen one of the Christian schools in Gaza.

He said: "We were about to share that we decided to reopen the school, first with 400 students, then 600 and then 1,000, but with this war we are not sure whether we can stick to this plan."

With the ceasefire in place around 300 people moved out of the Holy Family Church's compound where they have been for more than two years. But around 250 people are still sheltering there, including 50 people living with disabilities who are being cared for by the Missionaries of Charity.

Mr Akroush stressed that the West Bank's community is also facing difficulties - despite Israel's High Court temporarily halting a ban on aid groups from working there at the end of last month.

International aid organisations, including Caritas, Oxfam and Save the Children, were told to comply with extensive new rules or stop providing help for Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israeli authorities stated the new licensing process was necessary because charities' staff have links to militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. But the closing of border crossings from the West Bank into Israel has also caused major problems.

Mr Akroush said: "180,000 Palestinians from the West Bank used to have permits to work in Israel. After the 7th October attacks in 2023, the number dropped to 15,000.

"Unfortunately, now even those have lost access to their livelihoods, including teachers and support staff at the Christian schools in Jerusalem.

"This is a big challenge that we have to face, because 40 percent of our high-quality teachers and support staff come from the West Bank on a daily basis."

Israeli authorities say that they lack the manpower to operate the checkpoints, but according to Mr Akroush Christians question this explanation.

He said: "In my opinion, this seems to be just a pretext to exert more pressure on the Palestinian communities, because we see Israeli soldiers doing incursions every day in the West Bank, and they have even been filmed supporting settler attacks against Palestinian villages and towns.

"They are everywhere in the West Bank, but when it comes to facilitating access, they say that they don't have sufficient human resources."

The prospect of Christian families emigrating threatens to further diminish its historic presence in the West Bank.

Mr Akroush said: "Many are hoping to go to Jordan and then apply to move to some European or Western countries. Even the people who think that they are not ready yet for immigration are trying to secure documents that can allow them to leave."

But he added there were reasons for hope. ACN has redoubled support for the LPJ since 7th October attacks, supporting through emergency assistance, job creation programmes and food packages among other programmes.

Mr Akroush said: "Patriarch Pizzaballa often describes the mission of the Church in these difficult times as a jackhammer that slowly and persistently strikes hard rock until it begins to crack.

"Each act of service, each job created, each child returning to school, and each family supported represents another small break in the rock of despair."

LINK

Aid to the Church in Need: https://acnuk.org