Pizzaballa: Holy Land Marked by Mistrust and No Peace
Three years after October 7, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem warns of West Bank lawlessness and Gaza tent encampments facing winter.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, described a Holy Land marked by mistrust and a deep lack of hope three years after the October 7, 2023 attacks. Around October 13, 2026, the cardinal stated that no peace process is being discussed in Israel, leaving the political path to a settlement unspoken in public debate.
West Bank Lawlessness and Gaza's Winter Strain
In the West Bank, Cardinal Pizzaballa denounced a "total absence of law," leaving Palestinians without recourse. He described a climate in which people cannot depend on legal protections to safeguard their rights or their basic security, a vacuum that compounds daily fear and grievance.
In Gaza, despite a ceasefire, living conditions in tents have deteriorated ahead of winter. Populations are exhausted. Families still lack solid shelter after prolonged conflict and displacement, and the approach of cold weather intensifies the hardship of life under canvas. The cardinal drew attention to how little the truce has changed the material misery of ordinary residents.
Christians Under Pressure, Attention Still Needed
Christian communities across the Holy Land face insecurity. Surveys show that 36 percent of Christians are considering leaving. Incidents of violence persist, though they have been somewhat reduced. For parishes and families already thinned by emigration, the figure underscores how fragile the Christian presence has become.
Cardinal Pizzaballa plans to return to Gaza. He stressed that international attention on the Holy Land, the West Bank, and Gaza must be maintained if reconstruction is to come and if a genuine resolution is ever to be reached. Without that sustained focus, the mistrust and despair he recorded will be harder to reverse.
Three years on from the attacks, the Latin Patriarch described a landscape without a peace process on the Israeli agenda, without functioning law for many in the West Bank, with tent encampments facing winter in Gaza, and with more than a third of Christians contemplating exit. He urged that the world keep watch, lest attention fade before reconstruction and a real resolution can begin.