In a land destroyed and a territory devastated, more than two years after the start of the war, the Gaza Strip continues to count the dead in Israeli strikes, targeting Hamas cells. Father Gabriel Romanelli, author of the book “The Ruins and the Light, the poignant testimony of the heart of Gaza,” describes in his work a land devastated by war.
“Even though the situation has improved in the past six months, the landscape remains very serious,” he told RTL. He describes a landscape of devastation, “like after a tsunami or an earthquake: there are even cities that no longer exist, completely wiped out.” He mentions continuous bombings, incessant drones, accumulating deaths, and insufficient humanitarian aid.
A message of peace for Easter. Interrogated by RTL on the eve of Easter weekend, the priest discusses a tragic toll felt particularly within the Christian community, as “6% of Gaza’s Christians, Catholics, and Orthodox, were killed during this war,” he recalls.
But the priest also has thoughts for all other religious communities in Palestine: “It is a sign of what the whole community is experiencing, not just Christians, but Muslims, civilians… There is not a single home that does not mourn the death of a family member.”
The priest says he maintains faith and hopes “that one day, this war will end, and they will allow the possibility to start rebuilding in the Gaza Strip,” using the Easter period to address a message of peace: “In the world, it is absolutely necessary to convince oneself that war should not have the last word. Otherwise, it will be the ruin, not only of Gaza but of humanity,” he concludes.
“The Ruins and the Light, the poignant testimony of the heart of Gaza,” Father Gabriel Romanelli with Guillaume de Dieuleveult, Rocher Editions.
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