Shock, disbelief, grief as we have witnessed days of relentless bombing of Gaza that has caused widespread destruction of many homes, schools, hospitals, damage to essential water and sanitation infrastructure.  This most recent round of hostilities has displaced over a million people who are now in need of immediate food, shelter, health and psychosocial needs.  Gaza is now running out of food, water, electricity and critical supplies.  Water supplies cannot be replenished due to the blockade, fuel cannot be brought in, and as the infrastructure has been damaged, there is no electricity available to operate the pumps and desalination plants. 

Humanitarians are continuing to support Gaza’s population as best they can.  No aid can come from the outside for the 2.3 million residents of the sealed-off enclave, however, it is hoped that pathways may soon open.  Once this happens humanitarian aid agencies will be challenged to support tens of thousands of people who have been in dire need for days.  

Caritas Australia is supporting partner agencies to provide emergency cash, shelter, and psychosocial support.

With your compassionate generosity, Caritas will be able to support their partners, and their local networks on the ground in Gaza, to provide emergency support to people displaced and affected by these most recent hostilities.  Your vital support will help families in Gaza meet basic needs and assistance to cope with the trauma.

To donate visit Caritas Australia.

Pope Francis’ prayer for peace:

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer.

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms.
How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced;
how much blood has been shed;
how many lives have been shattered;
how many hopes have been buried…
But our efforts have been in vain.

Now, Lord, come to our aid!
Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace.
Open our eyes and our hearts and give us the courage to say:
“Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”.
Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.

Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love,
you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters.
Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace;
enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister.
Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust,
and our quarreling into forgiveness.

Keep alive within us the flame of hope,
so that with patience and perseverance
we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation.
In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman.
Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands.
Renew our hearts and minds,
so that the word which always brings us together will be
“brother”, and our way of life will always be that of:
Shalom, Peace, Salaam!

Amen

By Kate Baines

Source:  Caritas Australia

Image:  Reuters/Anas al-Shareef – view shows houses and buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, October 11, 2023.

Published: 20 October 2023