“You can hear the bombings, explosions and gunfire just a few dozen metres from the parish where the so-called ‘yellow line’, established by the 10 October ceasefire, passes.” There are moments when we can feel the earth shaking. The recent rain has further worsened conditions for Gazans, and it is also getting colder.” Speaking to SIR from Gaza, Father Gabriel Romanelli, the Latin parish priest at the Holy Family parish — the only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip — says that about 400 Christian refugees have found shelter there. Images coming out of Gaza show Gazans facing flooded tents, mattresses, blankets and soaked clothes, and the desperation they are experiencing. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 13,000 families were affected by the rain in Gaza on 14 November. Hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters across the Strip flooded, leaving families exposed to adverse weather conditions and increased health and safety risks, particularly for people with disabilities, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups. OCHA also reported that approximately 1,000 tents and 7,000 blankets were distributed to families in Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis. Around 15,000 tarpaulins were distributed to over 3,700 families, as well as winter clothing to more than 500 households.
Sheltering among the rubble. “In the parish,” he says, “we can still cope with the bad weather. We don’t have glass in our windows, but that’s nothing compared to the vast majority of the population who are living in makeshift tents in the cold and rain. Calling them tents is an exaggeration. They are tarpaulins stretched out somehow without a floor, completely exposed to the wind and rain.” The parish priest’s words are confirmed by data reported by some Israeli media outlets, which classify approximately 125,000 of the 135,000 available tents as ‘unsuitable’ due to damage caused by heavy rain and Israeli bombing. According to the United Nations Satellite Centre, approximately 81% of structures in Gaza have been damaged. “Many buildings are at risk of collapse, especially due to the imminent arrival of winter rains, which will further damage unstable structures. There are many Gazans who have found refuge among the rubble, inside what remains of the bombed buildings,” confirms Father Romanelli.
“These are difficult days, and we’ve only just entered the winter season.
Bulldozers would be needed to clear rubble and rubbish from the streets, and to repair power lines and sewage systems. The survival of the most vulnerable people is at risk”.
The priority is survival. “No one here is thinking about reconstruction, the second phase, the third phase or anything else in Trump’s plan. The priority now is to survive the bad weather and the cold,” Father Romanelli reiterates. There is no electricity, no fuel and no medicine. People are burning everything to cook: wood, furniture, chairs, tables, plastic and even rubbish. Food is easier to find now, as can be seen from the lower prices. Unfortunately, people do not have the cash to pay for it. A bank has opened, but it does not dispense cash. This exacerbates the sense of abandonment among the increasingly exhausted population.
The parish is a home. “Yesterday, the Church celebrated World Day of the Poor,” recalls the parish priest. “Our thoughts went out to all the poor people in the world: those who live in lands of conflict; those who have been abandoned; and those who are alone because they have no one left.
What we do here in Gaza as a parish is try to be a ‘home’ where those in need can find help and warmth — not only material warmth, but moral warmth too.”
This is the same warmth that the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, provides to the small parish in Gaza. “We hope he can come back to visit us before Christmas, as tradition dictates,” says Father Romanelli. “His presence here is a great blessing for us. We also thank Pope Leo XIV for his constant messages of affection and support.”
