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With pressure for a cease-fire increasing, 11 days of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza are taking a toll both mentally and physically on the Gaza population, said Bassam Nasser, head of the Gaza office for Catholic Relief Services.

Since early May 11, Israeli bombs have been falling around the Rosary Sisters school in Gaza, which sustained light to moderate damage inside and outside the compound -- including to the front door and solar panels used for electricity.

The 50-day war cost the lives of more than 2,250 Palestinians a year ago, 65 percent of whom were civilians, with the blockade of Gaza by Israel growing more intense, a priest in Gaza City said.

With close to a quarter of a million Palestinians rendered homeless by the continuing and intensifying fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, the Coordinating Catholic Aid Organizations met three times in as many days to organize action to confront the humanitarian crisis.

The situation in hospitals in the Gaza Strip is dire, and Palestinians are saying that medical supplies will soon run out, said a cardiologist who serves with the Near East Council of Churches in Gaza. By July 14, more than 170 people — about half civilians — had been killed in Gaza, and hundreds more were injured.

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- As diplomatic efforts were underway to reach a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel Nov. 20, Catholics on both sides of the Gaza border prayed for peace.

Rather than foment hate and seek revenge, Palestinians and Israelis need to engage in dialogue in the pursuit of peace, Pope Francis said.

In a time when social networks can tend to divide people, Christian media must instead work to unite men and women, Pope Francis said.

The Franciscan order's six U.S. provincials told President Joe Biden in a joint letter May 19 that "now is the time for boldness to end the immediate violence" in the Holy Land.

While the current cease-fire between Israel and Hamas brings a much-needed halt to violence in the Holy Land, true peace can only be achieved if both sides are recognized as equals, said the Palestinian ambassador to the Holy See.