Gaza’s siege is a machinery of annihilation, sustained by impunity and the silence—or complicity—of powerful nations.
Newsroom (27/08/2025, Gaudium Press )On August 20, 2025, Israeli forces stormed Gaza City, where nearly one million displaced civilians, many already emaciated, had sought refuge. Two days later, the United Nations confirmed a famine, a grim acknowledgment of what humanitarian groups like Caritas Internationalis had warned for months. By then, 273 people—112 of them children—had perished from starvation. This is not a natural disaster but the result of deliberate choices: blocked aid, bombed food convoys, and obliterated infrastructure. Gaza’s siege is a machinery of annihilation, sustained by impunity and the silence—or complicity—of powerful nations.
This is not war. It is the systematic destruction of civilian life. Caritas Internationalis, witnessing the horror, reports that women and children bear the brunt of this catastrophe—starved, bombed, and erased. Influential governments, corporations, and multinationals enable this through military support, financial aid, and diplomatic cover. Their silence is not neutrality; it is endorsement. Meanwhile, the international community’s hollow statements and platitudes only delay accountability, allowing further devastation.
Compounding this crisis is a parallel assault on truth. On August 26, L’Osservatore Romano’s director, Andrea Monda, condemned Israel’s decision to permit social media influencers into Gaza while barring journalists. “These are not journalists,” Monda wrote, “but influencers, enlisted in a cause, often self-promotion. They are propagandists.” He warned of a broader war in communication, where words become weapons in a polarized world. “The central stands, where nuance and truth reside, are closed off,” he said. “Only the stands of polarization remain, dangerous to the most fragile reality: the truth.”
Caritas Internationalis decries this dual catastrophe—starvation and distortion—as a collapse of moral order and a failure of leadership. It violates International Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, and UN Conventions, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. As Pope Francis states in Fratelli Tutti, “We are either all saved together or no one is saved.” Scripture echoes: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8) and “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25:45).
Caritas demands urgent action:
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An immediate and permanent ceasefire.
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Unrestricted humanitarian access to end starvation and provide care.
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Release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained persons.
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Deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to protect civilians.
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Protection of all civilians, especially children, women, and the elderly.
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Accountability for perpetrators and enablers before national and international courts.
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Full implementation of the ICJ’s July 19, 2024, Advisory Opinion, including ending Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, ceasing settlement activity, evacuating settlers, providing reparations, and mandating UN action to end the occupation.
Gaza’s famine and the erosion of truth are tests of moral integrity, and the world is failing. To starve a population is to desecrate life. To distort the narrative is to bury it. Silence is complicity. Caritas Internationalis calls on all people of faith and conscience to raise their voices, pressure governments, and demand justice. Gaza awaits not words but salvation.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Caritas and L’Osservatore Romano
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