‘Hunger like bombs’: Vatican newspaper article decries hunger in Gaza

July 25, 2025

L’Osservatore Romano devoted its most prominent article in its July 24 edition to hunger in Gaza.

In “La fame come le bombe‘“ [Hunger like bombs], staff journalist Roberto Paglialonga wrote that “for days now, there have been incessant appeals from the international community, humanitarian organizations, and the Church to at least put an end to the starvation of the population in Gaza—while waiting for something to happen in the negotiations to halt the fighting underway in Doha. A massacre—‘unjustified and unacceptable,’ as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, called it—in which dozens of people are killed every day.”

“A steady and massive influx of aid is needed,” Paglialonga continued. “Aid remains blocked at the border with the Strip due to restrictions imposed by Israel. The actual blockade, in theory, ended in mid-May, with the creation of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. But its distribution sites have become sites of violence and death, where, as dramatically occurred in recent days, crowds are often targeted while queuing for food.”

Paglialonga questioned statements made by Israel’s president:

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, visiting Gaza for the first time since October 7, declared that Israel “is acting in accordance with international law” and “is providing humanitarian aid,” accusing “Hamas and its people of attempting to sabotage this aid.” These statements are puzzling, especially since military operations continue unabated.

“People have been dying in the Strip for 22 months: the war and massacres must end immediately,” Paglialonga concluded.

 

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Further information:

• La fame come le bombe (L'Osservatore Romano)