Conflict in the Middle East

As ceasefire starts, first Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners return home

January 20, 2025
By Judith Sudilovsky
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News

In the West Bank, scenes of joy were delayed but the streets erupted in cheers as the first 90 prisoners, mostly women and teens, freed from Israeli prisons, were brought home in white Red Cross buses after midnight Jan. 20 as in the Gaza Strip first caravans of those displaced by 15-month war attempted return to their homes — of which scores are flattened — and first 600 trucks of aid entered the strip.

Gaza ceasefire an ‘encouraging sign of peace’ for the Middle East, U.S. bishop says

January 17, 2025
By OSV News
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News

The negotiations on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the first release of hostages to begin Jan. 19 are seen as an “encouraging sign of peace,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

Rome rabbi accuses pope of ‘selective indignation’ about Gaza

January 17, 2025
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, News, Vatican, World News

The chief rabbi of Rome said Christian-Jewish dialogue has been a victim of the war unleashed with the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.

Holy Land church leaders welcome ceasefire with relief, urge delivering critical aid

January 16, 2025
By Junno Arocho Esteves
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News

As news spread of a long-awaited ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, reactions from religious leaders in the region expressed hopes for peace in the Holy Land, concern for the safety of hostages as well as the people of the Gaza Strip for the past 15 months.

Vatican diplomats discuss paths toward peace in Middle East

January 14, 2025
By Justin McLellan
Catholic News Service Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Vatican, World News

The Vatican’s top diplomat met with papal representatives to various Middle Eastern countries to discuss possible avenues toward peace in the region and the state of the Catholic Church there.

Consecration of new church on banks of Jordan River called a sign of hope for region

January 12, 2025
By Dale Gavlak
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, told thousands of faithful that Pope Francis sent him to preside over the inauguration and consecration of a new Catholic church at the banks of the Jordan River as a sign of the universal church’s closeness to all Christians in the Middle East.

‘Do not forget Syria,’ says Damascus Franciscan, who sees mixed signs for nation’s future

January 12, 2025
By Leo Morawiecki
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News

The Franciscan friars in Syria are accustomed to overcoming obstacles and living in uncertain times, and now they are bracing for the new Islamic rule in the country with both “encouraging” and “worrying” signs on the horizon.

As last major hospital lies in ruins, people of Gaza dying ‘slow death,’ Caritas rep says

January 9, 2025
By Junno Arocho Esteves
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News

With northern Gaza Strip’s last major hospital lying in ruins following a raid by Israeli forces, the director of Caritas Jerusalem said that with limited medical resources and basic supplies, Palestinians in the ravaged territory are running out of time.

Custos: Wish of Holy Land Christians is to start again and live in peace in land of ancestors

January 5, 2025
By Father Patrick Briscoe
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News

Amid the turmoil of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Father Francesco Patton, the custos of the Holy Land, has a unique perspective on the plight of Christians in the region.

Christians in Syria ask whether their rights will be preserved under new Islamic rule

January 3, 2025
By Dale Gavlak
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Religious Freedom, World News

Although Christian leaders in Syria are trying to stay positive about the new Islamist interim government in Damascus, others are pointing to worrying concerns about what lies ahead for the country’s diverse population.

Change of heart key to Holy Year indulgence, Latin patriarch says in Nazareth

December 30, 2024
By Judith Sudilovsky
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Jubilee 2025, News, World News

An indulgence granted during the Jubilee Year is not just an occasion to “get something” but rather is a sign of the Holy Year, of the moment where the faithful must put themselves in front of God to discover the reality of oneself and see the need for forgiveness, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem said Dec. 29.

Gaza: For humanitarian workers, civilians, 2024 proves to be year of suffering, loss

December 26, 2024
By Junno Arocho Esteves
OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News

With a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon barely holding, as both sides accuse each other of violations, hopes for even a fragile peace seem impossible for those living and aiding people in Gaza.