Call for "an unarmed and disarming peace" in Gaza

The Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain replied, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" The Lord replied, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." (Gen 4)

In this Jubilee Year of Hope, we bring to our conscience the call of the Second Vatican Council, which reminds us that "the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Nothing truly human does not find a response in their hearts. (…) The Church therefore feels close and truly in solidarity with the human race and its history." (GS, 1)

In a world of conflict, which paints a mosaic of death with a "world war in installments" and which is acquiring more deeply rooted structures of permanence in violence and hatred, where the value of defending individuals and communities as the center of a full life is losing ground in favor of commercial interests, money, and power, we long for a society characterized by coexistence, mutual respect, and the preservation of inalienable rights, hard-won.

Until there is a firm and lasting peace, our silence cannot be complicit in so many active wars.

The reality we are experiencing cries out for an end to all conflict and the establishment of a just peace in all territories suffering from the scourge of war, and especially in the beloved land of Palestine, where, in the words of the UN Human Rights Office, the military escalation is creating living conditions incompatible with the survival of the Palestinian community, especially the population of Gaza.

In Gaza, the elderly, children and surviving families are already dying of hunger:

We don't want Attila roaming the Gaza Strip, we don't want bombs or hostages, we want justice and peace for those who live in Israel and Palestine, we want full respect for all human rights in all the lands where our Lord Jesus Christ has walked and throughout the world. We cannot forget or look the other way when our brothers and sisters suffer and are dying because of wars. To remain indifferent is totally inconsistent with our Christianity.

With Pope Leo XIV, we say that peace is not the deathly silence after conflict; it is not the result of oppression or extermination, but a gift that looks at people and revives their lives. We pray for this peace, which is reconciliation, forgiveness, and the courage to turn the page and begin anew in a relationship of respect and coexistence.

The people want peace:

We cannot forget that there is no peace without justice, and there is no justice without reparation, not only physical and infrastructural, but fundamentally for the many people damaged in body and spirit. We must be fully involved in this effort to achieve reparation and to demand an end to the war as a first and unavoidable condition.

For this peace to spread, together with Pope Leo XIV, we support the Holy See, which is available to help enemies meet and look each other in the eye, so that people may regain hope and be restored to the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace.

With our hearts in our hands, we say to those who lead the people: Let us meet, let us dialogue, let us negotiate! War must never be inevitable, because in it no one wins and everyone loses. Weapons can and must remain silent, because they do not solve problems, but rather exacerbate them; because those who sow peace will go down in history, not those who reap victims; because other people are not, above all, enemies, but human beings. They are not evil beings to be hated, but people with whom to be spoken.

To achieve a situation of "justice, peace, truth and fraternity" - as Pope Leo XIV has been calling for - it is urgent and imperative to end the siege of the population, as well as the attacks on hospitals, the bombing of the civilian population, the systematic destruction of infrastructure and neighborhoods, and the denial of humanitarian assistance, which constitute a violation of the most basic human rights and international humanitarian law, acts of occupation equivalent to ethnic cleansing.

For this reason, and because it is an imperative for human dignity, we demand:

That international humanitarian law be respected.

• That the entry of humanitarian aid be allowed without restrictions.
• That the defense of life be respected, especially that of the most vulnerable, children, the sick, and women, and that all kidnapped persons be released.
• That humanitarian corridors be opened to assist the civilian population.
• That state leaders continue to impose sanctions on the agreements with those who do not respect international humanitarian law and that rearmament cease, with a comprehensive military embargo, in pursuit of an "unarmed and disarming" peace.
• That the war in Gaza be ended and that the reconstruction of infrastructure begin to ensure a dignified life for the Palestinian people in their territory until a peace with justice and reparation is consolidated.

"In a world divided and wounded by hatred and war, we are called to sow hope and build peace!" With these words of our Pope Leo XIV, we call to build bridges of tolerance, dialogue, and full justice, for every person and condition, for every people and nation. We are called and summoned to be artisans of peace, convinced that it is God who moves history, even if he sometimes seems absent or distant.

"Our Lady of Peace, pray for us." We turn to you so that we may receive, preserve, and bring to the world the peace God offers us in Jesus. Help us to be architects of peace. May your maternal help make us courageous, patient, and effective in our commitment to work for justice, the foundation of the peace that every person needs.

General Commission for Justice and Peace of Spain