As women of faith who pray to the same God as all our Abrahamic kin in the Middle East, we cry out in horror at the sight of starvation sweeping across Gaza.
One in five Palestinians now face starvation, including thousands of children – infants and toddlers. The little ones Jesus called unto himself are now among those suffering the most, ravaged by the effects of malnutrition from weeks of aid blockages earlier this year and now from the unconscionably limited and perilously dangerous food distribution.
Palestinians are dying from starvation – and from their dire attempts to obtain food. Conditions in Gaza are “catastrophic and rapidly deteriorating,” according to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
We call on President Trump and Members of Congress to exert the massive influence of U.S. funding policy in order to give humanitarian aid distribution to established aid organizations and to call on Israel to allow them unblocked road access and safe passage into Gaza. Food, water, medical supplies and other urgently needed goods must be allowed into Gaza immediately and distributed safely at the great scale needed if the heartless, immoral, and painful starvation is to be brought to an end.
“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said. And, please God, let them be fed!
This statement is taken from the Adrian Dominican Sisters and is supported by the Dominican Sisters of Hope Leadership Team.