Jerusalem Catholic Patriarch Willing to Exchange Himself for Israeli Hostages

  Giovanni Zennaro, via Wikimedia Commons

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem and Pope Francis’ representative in the Holy Land, has expressed his willingness to exchange himself for Israeli children held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The announcement was made during a video conference with journalists in Italy.

A Willingness to Help

The Patriarch stated his readiness to do anything, including personal exchange, to secure the freedom of the hostages and bring the children home. He highlighted the need to prioritize the release of the hostages to prevent further escalation. However, Pizzaballa admitted that neither he nor his office had established direct contact with Hamas, the militant Islamist group responsible for the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which resulted in 1,300 deaths.

The Hostage Crisis

About 200 people were taken hostage, including an estimated dozen children. Pizzaballa oversees Roman Catholic activities in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Cyprus, a region home to approximately 300,000 Roman Catholics.

Situation in Gaza

The situation in Gaza remains critical, with diplomatic efforts being intensified to get aid into the region as Israel prepares a ground invasion to destroy Hamas. Gaza authorities report at least 2,750 people killed by Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, with nearly 10,000 wounded. An additional 1,000 people are missing and believed to be under rubble.

According to the Patriarch, about 1,000 Christians are sheltering in Church buildings in northern Gaza after their homes were destroyed in Israeli strikes. With moving being dangerous, many are left without a safe place to go. Despite Israel urging Gazans to evacuate to the south, Hamas, which controls Gaza, has told people to ignore Israel’s message. This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of Gazans, from a population of more than 2 million, already having made the journey south.