Rome dimmed the lights of the iconic Trevi Fountain for one hour Friday night in a symbolic call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, following a city council resolution last month that was titled, “Rome will not remain silent.”
“Let’s stop the war in Gaza” was also projected onto the front facade of the historic Palazzo Poli, which is behind the fountain, in a symbolic demand for a ceasefire.
A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in front of the fountain and waved Palestinian flags in protest of what they described as genocide by Israel in Gaza.
The projected message referenced “war,” but demonstrators held signs that read: “What’s happening in Gaza is not a war, it’s genocide.”
Some chanted slogans accusing Israel of committing atrocities against Palestinians worse than those perpetrated by Nazi Germany against Jews during World War II.
They also criticized the US and the EU for being complicit in their silence.
The group shouted “Free Palestine”, “Stop the genocide” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The demonstration drew attention from tourists, with some showing support with the pro-Palestinian group according to Anadolu.
One man and one woman were killed after Israel bombed a Catholic Church in Gaza, Thursday morning.
The parish priest of the Holy Family Catholic Church as it’s officially known, Father Gabriel Romanelli as well as six others were injured and taken to the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital. in Gaza City.
The news was confirmed by The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pizzaballa and carried across news and social media websites, reaffirming that Romanelli, an Argentinian cleric, kept an open channel with the late Pope Francis informing him od developments in Gaza.
The church which lies in Gaza City was directly hit by an Israeli tank shell causing major structural damage to the building that has since housed Palestinians fleeing from Israeli bombs.
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni confirmed in a social media post that: “Israeli raids on Gaza also hit the Church of the Holy Family. The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such an attitude.”
Gaza has a minority Christian community whose number stood at around 1,100 including 135 Catholics. The number may have yet dwindled since the Israeli genocide which began soon after 7 October 2023 that killed over 58,000 people.
Indeed, in that month, Israeli warplanes bombed the Church of St Porphyrius, Gaza’s oldest church and killing at least 18 people.
In October 2023, just days after the war began, Israeli forces bombed the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the Gaza Strip’s oldest, killing at least 18 people.
The Israeli occupation army admitted that five soldiers were wounded by the fire of the Palestinian resistance fire, Wednesday, in the northern Gaza Strip.
An Israeli Channel 12 correspondent reported that a Palestinian fighter emerged from a tunnel opening and fired an anti-tank missile at a force from the Paratroopers Brigade. He then opened fire with a machine gun at the soldiers, wounding four soldiers, two of them seriously.
In another incident, Wednesday, a soldier from the Yahalom Unit was moderately wounded when an explosive device exploded in the central Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian resistance is confronting the occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli army has suffered heavy losses in lives and equipment.
The occupation forces, with American support, continue their aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in more than 197,000 deaths and injuries, in addition to thousands of missing persons and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.
Conditions in Gaza have reached an unspeakable level of devastation with children paying the highest price, top UN officials told the Security Council on Wednesday, warning of soaring child deaths, starvation and a shattered health system amid continuing bombardment and displacement.
Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said there was no “vocabulary” left to adequately describe conditions on the ground.
“Food is running out. Those seeking it risk being shot. People are dying trying to feed their families. Field hospitals receive dead bodies, and medical workers hear stories firsthand from the injured – day after day after day,” he said.
Starvation rates among children reached their highest levels in June, with more than 5,800 girls and boys diagnosed as acutely malnourished.
“Last week, amid this hunger crisis, children and women were killed in a strike while waiting for the food supplements to keep them alive.”
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher briefs the Security Council
A classroom full of children, lost every day
UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell told ambassadors that an average of 28 children are killed in Gaza every day – “the equivalent of an entire classroom.”
Over the past 21 months, more than 17,000 children have been killed and 33,000 injured across Gaza.
Many of those children, she said, were struck “as they line up for lifesaving humanitarian aid – further proof that there is no safe place for civilians anywhere in Gaza.”
“Children are not political actors. They do not start conflicts, and they are powerless to stop them. But they suffer greatly, and they wonder why the world has failed them,” she added.
“And make no mistake, we have failed them.”
Critical infrastructure collapse
Gaza’s health system “is shattered,” Mr. Fletcher reported – only 17 of 36 hospitals and 63 of 170 primary health centres are even partially functioning; shortages mean up to five babies share one incubator.
Seventy per cent of essential medicines are out of stock, half of all medical equipment is damaged, pregnant women are giving birth without care, women and girls manage their periods without basic supplies.
Meanwhile, water production capacity has plummeted leaving the entire enclave (95 per cent) facing water insecurity.
“With clean water increasingly difficult to access, children have little choice but to drink contaminated water,” Ms. Russell said, noting that this is increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell briefs the Security Council
Aid impeded, fuel at trickle levels
Mr. Fletcher further described the scale of challenges to moving something as simple as a bag of flour into Gaza.
He noted multiple layers of approvals that Israel requires, scanning, re‑loading, multiple handoffs, damaged roads, delays at holding points, insecurity and desperate civilians grabbing supplies off trucks.
Last week – after almost 130 days – some fuel entered Gaza, as Israeli authorities agreed to allow two trucks in per day, five days a week. However, petrol – fuel for ambulances and other critical services – has not been permitted.
Between 19 May and 14 July, just 1,633 aid trucks – about 62 per cent of loads submitted for clearance – entered Gaza, far below the average of 630 daily truckloads moved during the previous ceasefire, Mr. Fletcher said.
Appeals to Israel, Hamas – and the Council
Both officials pressed for immediate, safe, sustained, demilitarised humanitarian access through all available crossings, consistent fuel flows, protection of civilians at distribution points, and restoration of the UN‑led aid pipeline that briefly functioned during earlier pauses in fighting.
They also reiterated the UN’s call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and called on all parties – including Hamas and other armed groups – to respect international humanitarian law.
Mr. Fletcher asked the Security Council to assess whether Israel, as the occupying power, is meeting its obligations to ensure food and medical supplies reach civilians.
“We hold all parties to the standards of international law in this conflict. We don’t have to choose – and in fact, we must not choose – between demanding the end to the starvation of civilians in Gaza and demanding the unconditional release of all the hostages,” he said.
“We must reject antisemitism – we must fight it with every fibre of our DNA. But we must also hold Israel to the same principles and laws as all other States.”
In a scene that reflects its utmost political and military arrogance, Israel, Wednesday, bombed the Syrian General Staff and the Republican Palace in the heart of the capital, Damascus.
This blatant attack crosses all red lines, interfering in Syria’s internal affairs as if it were the world’s superpower, openly defying international law and humiliating some Arab regimes with its silence and suspicious incompetence.
This is not a passing event, nor is it merely a “security message,” as Western media attempts to gloss it over. It is a blatant aggression against the sovereignty of an Arab state, striking its most important symbols of sovereignty in broad daylight.
The military strikes are a declaration of rebellion against international law and an insistence that Israel remains “above the law,” capable of destroying any Arab capital without fear of punishment or even blame.
What does Israel want?
It wants to brazenly say:
“I decide who lives, who is bombed, and whose voice is forcibly silenced.”
It seeks to impose the logic of force and dictate new rules in the region, titled: There is no place for an Arab state with independent decision-making, capable army, or a resistance project.
What is happening in Syria today has happened and is happening in Gaza, in southern Lebanon, in Iraq, in Yemen, and in every region trying to breathe outside the Zionist orbit.
The challenge is not only facing Syria…but all Arabs.
Anyone who thinks that these raids target Syria alone is delusional.
Every Arab country is now on the waiting list.
Today, Damascus is being bombed, and tomorrow… who will be next? Baghdad? Beirut? Yemen, Khartoum? Riyadh, Cairo? No one is immune to this arrogance as long as silence is the only response.
It is the Arab silence that has encouraged Israel to persist. The disagreements, divisions, and humiliating normalization are what have reassured Tel Aviv that no one will hold it accountable, or even condemn it.
What’s needed now: Break the silence and stop the collapse.
It’s time for the Arab nation to wake up from its slumber and realize that what is happening is not a “Syrian crisis” but a “collective Arab setback.”
Overt and gratuitous normalization with Israel must be halted immediately.
The Joint Arab Defense Charter must be activated, even if only verbally at first.
The steadfastness of Syria—its people, army, and institutions—must be supported, because the ultimate target is every Arab state. Everyone’s turn will come if Arab silence continues.
Israel is not destiny… and if the Arabs want to, they can.
Our history is full of moments of steadfastness and victory, but we need an awakening of conscience and a political will to halt this unbearable collapse.
Israel does not respect the weak, nor does it take into account those who remain silent.
Unless it is curbed now, every Arab state will one day find itself in its crosshairs, without support or dignity.
This opinion was written by Awni Al Rjoub in Arabic and published in Jo24.
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