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The top Catholic and Orthodox church leaders in Jerusalem said they returned with "broken hearts" from a visit to Gaza's Holy Family Church, which was targeted by Israeli forces earlier July.
Jerusalem Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III held a press conference in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday to discuss their July 18 visit to the Gaza church that was struck by Israeli tank fire on July 17.
The attack on the Holy Family Church killed three people and wounded 10 others, including the church's priest. The church had been serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza City.
The two church leaders visited Gaza one day after the July 17 Israeli tank strike on the Holy Family Church, where displaced Palestinians from northern Gaza had sought refuge.
Cardinal Pizzaballa described witnessing Gaza in ruins, with people living in tents without knowing how many days they have spent in exile. He said children have become so accustomed to the war that they play without flinching when bombs explode nearby.
"Humanitarian aid is not only necessary but a matter of life and death," Pizzaballa said. "Not allowing this is not just a delay but a death sentence. Every hour that passes with lack of food, water, medicine and shelter causes more damage."
The cardinal said they witnessed people waiting hours under the sun for a single meal, calling it "humiliating" and "morally unacceptable and unjustifiable."
Churches and their affiliated hospitals and kitchens in Gaza serve as shelters for everyone regardless of faith, Pizzaballa noted. He said when clergy entered Gaza, many people came to the church seeking food.
Addressing regional and world leaders, Pizzaballa recalled Pope Leo XIV's call for "adherence to human rights law, the obligation to protect civilians, preventing collective punishment, indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of people."
"The time has come to end this madness, to end the war, to put the common good of people as the top priority," Pizzaballa said.
Pizzaballa called on U.S. President Donald Trump to take a more active role in stopping attacks on Gaza. He described being moved by seeing a Palestinian father praying over his children who had lost limbs, emphasizing that Palestinians are "clinging to life amid hunger and thirst" with "very great destruction."
Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III said their message to the international community is that "silence in the face of the suffering in Gaza means complicity."
Theophilos shared that Gaza's Christian community described the extent of hunger they face, saying Palestinians have not seen meat or chicken since February and are eating rice or pasta with insects.
The patriarch revealed that Israel has approved 500 tons of humanitarian aid from churches to Gaza, though he described the process of getting aid inside as complex.
When asked about Israeli police findings that a church in the West Bank Christian village of Taybeh was undamaged during recent settler attacks, Pizzaballa said "the West Bank has become a lawless place."
He noted that while three people died in the Gaza church attack, thousands of Palestinians have been killed overall, with dozens dying nearly every day, and Christians are victims of these attacks as part of the Palestinian people.
Theophilos said they met with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee after their Gaza visit, but did not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other Israeli officials.
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