ENOUGH! End to the attacks on the civilian population of Gaza

There are limits that cannot be crossed under the risk of being branded as a murderous state. Today's events, which involved attacking the population with firearms, already starved from the long siege, on their way to fetch food from the humanitarian aid trucks, have no justification under any circumstances.

It is one more action in the long list of attacks on civil society with the excuse of finding Hamas people among them. Enough already! The killing of innocent people cannot be done without receiving a profound rejection from the international community.

"I plead for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims, and call for a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid", indicated Pope Francis, already in his Christmas message.

We do not allow this to happen without raising our voices and calling for a definitive cease-fire and giving way to talks where diplomacy prevails in search of a just and lasting peace, a cease-fire where we can hear the repudiation of these actions and the search for consensus to stop this military offensive that has already caused a disproportionate massacre.

From the GCJP we recall the words of the UN: "Vital supplies such as fuel, food and water must be allowed into Gaza. We need rapid and unrestricted humanitarian access immediately."

Enough! of forced displacement of the population along the Gaza Strip to be attacked in spite of Israel's requirements. Is it a matter of ravaging the territory to leave no possibility of residence in it?

The interaction of this war with international norms underscores the need for a more effective international law in protecting human rights as well as promoting national peace and security.

"May Humanitarian Law be respected, especially in Gaza. Please, let no more innocent blood be shed, neither in the Holy Land nor in Ukraine, nor in any other place! Enough! Wars are always a defeat, always!" [1] "'no' to war, to the very mindset of war, an aimless voyage, a defeat without victors, an inexcusable folly. To say "no" to war means saying 'no' to weaponry" [2].

[1] Francis, Message Sunday, October 15, 2023.

[2] Francis, Christmas 2023 Urbi et orbi Message.