Bishop Zaidan urges ‘intense prayers’ for Trump-led Gaza disarmament agreement
The USCCB international justice chairman called a U.S.-led Gaza disarmament roadmap accepted by Hamas a potential milestone and pressed for aid, schools, jobs, and clean water as Israel raised objections to the deal.
A spokesman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) called for prayers Aug. 3 as negotiators pursue a U.S.-led framework that would dismantle Hamas’ military apparatus, transfer Gaza’s government to Palestinian technocrats, and link that process to a phased Israeli withdrawal.
Zaidan, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, said the Board of Peace roadmap, which Hamas and other Palestinian factions have accepted, could also open a path toward Palestinian self-determination and statehood if it is successfully implemented.
“I call for intense prayers for the success of these negotiations,” Bishop Zaidan said in an Aug. 3 statement. He described the plan’s potential outcome as a “major milestone,” while acknowledging the severe challenges facing the peace process.
The statement followed Trump’s July 30 announcement that Hamas and other Palestinian factions had accepted a 15-point roadmap for the next phase of the Gaza peace plan. As Zeale News previously reported, the roadmap would transfer civilian government, policing, and security authority to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a Palestinian technocratic body.
The plan calls for heavy weapons, weapons factories, storage depots, and tunnels to be decommissioned under Palestinian control. An International Verification Committee would certify each stage, while an International Stabilization Force would support the transition and deploy between Israeli troops and Palestinian-controlled territory.
The roadmap says Gaza would ultimately operate under the principle of “One Authority, One Law, One Weapon.” Israeli troops would withdraw in stages as corresponding demilitarization steps are verified. The document also says implementation should help establish a “credible political path that achieves self-determination and Statehood” – language Bishop Zaidan highlighted in his statement.
The agreement remains far from assured. Israel is not a signatory to the newly announced roadmap and has not formally approved it. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had communicated “serious security concerns” to the White House, arguing that Israeli forces cannot withdraw before Hamas has fully surrendered its weapons. Hamas has insisted that it will not begin relinquishing control of its arsenal until Israel stops attacking Gaza and fulfills its withdrawal commitments.
Trump said July 31 that Israel was “very happy” with the deal and had assisted the negotiations. On Aug. 3, Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov held what the board called “constructive and detailed” talks with Netanyahu about the roadmap and pressed Israel to halt its strikes in Gaza, AP News reported.
Alongside his support for demilitarization and withdrawal, Bishop Zaidan urged the U.S., Israel, and the wider international community to increase humanitarian and development assistance to Gaza. He specifically called for renewed educational opportunities for children and young people, jobs, and access to clean water.
Easing Palestinian suffering is a “vital moral imperative,” the bishop said, and a practical requirement for consolidating peace throughout the Holy Land and the wider region.
Bishop Zaidan’s remarks echoed recent warnings from Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. After visiting Gaza in June, Cardinal Pizzaballa told Vatican News that “Gaza is a disaster,” describing razed cities, children living beside sewage, and an acute lack of materials needed to resume normal life.
The cardinal said some food was entering Gaza, but that many other goods remained prohibited as potential “dual-use” items, including school desks, pencils, notebooks, and glass for windows. “We want to reopen the schools, but we are missing almost everything,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said.
Under the roadmap, a detailed timetable and implementation mechanism must be prepared within 14 days – but that clock begins only after all parties approve the plan. Bishop Zaidan closed his statement by entrusting the negotiators to the maternal care of Our Lady of Wisdom, asking that their efforts finally bring peace to the sacred lands.
