Conflict in the Middle East

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities that left 1,200 dead and over 250 kidnapped, Lo’ay Ayyad, 48, a father of two and a successful veteran tour guide in the region, has been largely unemployed as the tourism industry has come to a halt and he has used up almost all his savings.

The Holy Land remains perhaps the most hotly contested piece of territory in the Middle East, if not the world.

Ireland’s Catholic bishops called on Israel and Hamas to immediately end hostilities in the Holy Land as the war triggered by the Oct. 7 attacks enters its sixth month, and U.N. agencies warn that children are dying of starvation in Gaza.