Fr Romanelli: Gaza’s humanitarian crisis ‘beyond disastrous’

Vatican News

The parish priest of the Holy Family Church in Gaza, Fr Gabriel Romanelli, has renewed his appeal for urgent humanitarian assistance, warning that the situation in the Strip has deteriorated to the point where even the word “disastrous” is no longer sufficient to describe it.

“When people say the situation here is disastrous, believe me: it really is disastrous—if anything, it calls for an even stronger word,” the Argentine-born priest says in a video message shared by the parish’s social media channels and in remarks to the Italian Catholic news agency SIR.

Fr Romanelli describes a daily struggle in which even short journeys have become increasingly difficult. Most of the parish’s vehicles are no longer usable because spare parts are unavailable. “We even took the battery from one car to keep another running,” he explains. The only vehicle still in operation, used by the priests, recently came close to breaking down because of degraded engine oil and a diesel fuel system that had become almost completely clogged.

Fuel, he says, is both scarce and prohibitively expensive, with diesel costing around 13 US dollars per litre. At the same time, many people have turned to improvised fuel made by processing recycled plastic and nylon.

“I don’t know exactly how the process works,” he says, “but many people tell me they are producing diesel from recycled plastic. The problem is that it is extremely poor-quality fuel,” risking serious damage to vehicles and generators.

The crisis has become so severe that Fr Romanelli even considered replacing the parish’s vehicles with a donkey-drawn cart. But that option, too, is now beyond reach.

“I was told that a donkey now costs about 50,000 shekels, between 16,000 and 17,000 dollars,” he says. “Before the war, one cost between 1,000 and 2,000 shekels.”

The priest stresses that transport is essential for daily life, allowing people to reach hospitals, schools and workplaces, and to visit the sick and deliver humanitarian aid.

“Gaza is not so small that everything can be done on foot,” he says, noting that countless roads have been destroyed during the conflict.

Among the few encouraging developments, Fr Romanelli points to reports that the Israeli government has given initial approval for an international force linked to the Board of Peace to enter the Rafah area.

“That would at least be a first step,” he says.

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Even so, Fr Romanelli insists that the greatest need remains support for Gaza’s civilian population.

“People are living with nothing,” he says. “Reconstruction is certainly essential, but so too are all the basic necessities of everyday life.”

File photo of Fr Gabriele Romanelli