War in the Holy Land ‘causing horrendous levels of suffering,’ Catholic charity says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not stop its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, after the United States and France urged a three-week ceasefire at the United Nations.

Last week, Israel created two sophisticated attacks on Hezbollah, the Shia militant group based in Lebanon, blowing up hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies killing at least 42 people and injuring thousands of others.

Since September 23, Israel has conducted around 1,500 airstrikes targeting Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, killing over 500 people.

Hezbollah started firing guided rockets and artillery shells at Israel in October 2023, after the Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking over 200 more as hostages.

This has led to Israel declaring war on Hamas in Gaza and attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“The war in the Holy Land is causing horrendous levels of suffering for so many innocent people, destroying communities and devastating families across the region. Over 43,000 thousand people have already been killed, and over a million people have lost their homes and livelihoods,” said Mark Adams from the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).

With the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East widening, SCIAF has taken the decision to widen its Gaza appeal for aid to include southern Lebanon.

“SCIAF, as part of the world-wide Caritas network of aid agencies, is ideally placed to respond and respond quickly,” Adams said.

Caritas is expanding its existing support to those affected by the conflict on Lebanon’s southern border,” he said.

“Despite many of our Caritas colleagues being displaced and in danger themselves, they bravely and selflessly continue to respond to those most in need, providing essential food and medical equipment in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and in neighboring countries,” Adams said.

Imran Riza, the UN’s top aid official in Lebanon, said the country is experiencing its deadliest period in a generation, “and many expressed their fear that this is just the beginning.”

He said Lebanon’s health system has been “completely overwhelmed” by the escalation in hostilities.

“We have done a great deal of preparedness work and luckily we have managed to get trauma kits and the like in and tried to have them distributed also throughout the country because now the displacement is happening not just in south,” he said.

On Thursday, Abdallah Bou Habib, the Foreign Minister of Lebanon, told the UN General Assembly the crisis is set off “a domino effect,” turning the entire Middle East region into “a black hole” of endless conflict.

“What we are currently experiencing in Lebanon is due to the absence of a sustainable solution to the root of the crisis, which is occupation. To claim anything else would be a waste of time,” he said. “So long as the occupation persists there will be instability and there will be war.”

One Wednesday, Pope Francis said during his General Audience he was “saddened” by the news from Lebanon, “where in recent days the intense bombings have claimed many victims and caused destruction.”

“I hope that the international community will make every effort to stop this terrible escalation. It is unacceptable,” the pontiff said.