‘Still without peace’: Vatican newspaper publishes impassioned plea for Gaza
February 18, 2026
L’Osservatore Romano published an impassioned plea for peace in Gaza as the most prominent article in its February 17 edition.
Referring to this photograph, Father Ibrahim Faltas, OFM, a friar in the Franciscan province in the Holy Land, began:
A little girl cries in despair, her face touching the earth, wet also by her tears, she seems to embrace her father’s burial place to receive the warmth of someone who was stolen from her and whom she can no longer embrace. This little girl’s father hoped to still be a support for his family, and he died, killed during the truce that could have brought an end to a tragedy. This is still the image of Gaza, this is what is still happening in Gaza.
“People continue to die in Gaza,” Father Faltas continued in his article, entitled “Ancora senza pace“ (Still without peace). “While efforts are underway to dispose of the enormous amount of rubble that has buried bodies, stories, and memories, family members are being targeted as they dig bare-handed through the remains of their homes to search for the bodies of their loved ones.”
He concluded:
Asking for peace for the Holy Land is respect for the dignity of life and concerns every human being in every corner of the world. There will be peace in the world when a child’s tears no longer wet the earth that hides a father’s body. There will be peace in the world when every child, like that little girl crying in despair, has the warmth of a home, food, and care, and a smile to remember the love and embrace of his father, who died during the truce that has still not brought peace to Gaza.
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