Aleppo’s priests plead for peace after deadly clashes displace 140,000, leaving the city traumatized and uncertain despite a fragile ceasefire.
Newsroom (13/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) In the war-scarred city of Aleppo, a weary silence has settled over burned-out streets and emptied neighborhoods. Only days ago, fierce clashes between Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and government troops convulsed the northern metropolis. Today, a fragile ceasefire holds — but fear still anchors the hearts of its residents.
“We ask for your prayers, your solidarity, your support, and that the voice of Aleppo will not be forgotten,” pleads Father Bahjat Karakach, parish priest of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. His words, sent in a testimony to AsiaNews, carry the exhaustion of a city that has endured more than a decade of war, sanctions, and devastation.
A Ceasefire in a City on Edge
The battles that erupted on January 6 tore through northern districts such as Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh, and Bani Zaid. “The city of Aleppo has seen violent clashes in numerous neighborhoods,” Father Karakach recounts, “leading to the displacement of thousands of families and the interruption of essential services.”
By the morning of January 10, under an agreement brokered partly by the United States, SDF militias withdrew from the city. The truce halted days of heavy fighting that left at least 24 dead, more than 120 injured, and over 140,000 civilians displaced. Yet, for those who remain, the quiet that follows is uneasy.
“The situation remains fragile and uncertain,” the priest warns. Although the guns are silent, the trauma is not. Streets once bustling with commerce now stand paralyzed — schools and universities shuttered, mid-term exams abandoned, families huddled in fear within damaged homes.
Humanitarian Outreach Amid the Rubble
During the worst of the fighting, Aleppo’s churches once again became sanctuaries. The Terra Santa monastery opened its doors to displaced families “of all religions and backgrounds,” according to Father Karakach. Volunteers offered food, shelter, and comfort — not as acts of charity alone, but of survival.
The Church’s presence, he insists, “must remain wherever there is pain.” Yet the sense of exhaustion is clear. “Our people are exhausted,” he says. “After wars, bloodbaths, and repeated traumas, it is time to live in peace.”
Hope, the priest adds, “is wounded, but it remains alive.” He calls on the world to not turn away: “We ask the Lord to grant peace to this land, comfort to those who suffer, and instill courage in all to choose love over terror.”
“Enough! We Have Had Enough”
That cry of anguish echoes across Aleppo’s religious communities. Father Georges Sabe, of the Blue Marists, described the city’s recent ordeal as a descent into “the hell of war.” From their community in Sheikh Maqsoud — renamed Jabal ed-Saydeh, Notre Dame Hill — he wrote of “horrific scenes” and people wandering the streets “without knowing where to go, while cannon fire continued incessantly day and night.”
“Schools and universities are closed indefinitely,” he lamented. “Life is paralyzed. A veritable curfew envelopes the city in silence and fear.” His words turn increasingly desperate: “As if 14 years of war, sanctions, and earthquakes were not enough. As if this city were cursed.” His letter ends like a collective scream: “Enough! We have had enough. Our nerves can no longer take it: we are traumatized and anguished.”
A City Between Ruin and Resilience
Aleppo’s latest bloodshed comes more than a year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the ascent of Ahmed al-Sharaa and the HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) militia. Hopes for a stable transition have quickly eroded. Efforts to integrate Kurdish forces into the national army remain stalled, leaving fractured alliances and a landscape of shifting control.
Yet amid the uncertainty, the voices from Aleppo’s parishes resonate with resilience. They offer a testament not just to faith, but to the enduring human will to rebuild even after endless devastation.
As Father Karakach reminds, “Hope is wounded, but it remains alive.” Aleppo, though battered, continues to haunt the conscience of the world — a city not only scarred by war, but still pleading to be remembered.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Asianews.it
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