The international community’s treatment of Israel’s actions in Gaza and its reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine amount to double standards, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said in a Feb. 24 address to Italy’s Emilia-Romagna Regional Legislative Assembly. He said many Palestinians feel deeply hurt and angry over what they see as a failure to protect civilians.
“Here, people feel great anger toward the international community: why does the international community not allow Russia what it allows Israel to do in Palestine?” Cardinal Pizzaballa said, according to an unofficial translation of an article from Italian outlet L’Espresso.
The event, titled “To Continue Talking About Peace,” marked four years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the outlet reported. Speaking via video link from Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzaballa told legislators that Gaza is facing a severe humanitarian catastrophe amid ongoing violence. He said that just hours before the event, he had received news of an Israeli drone attack in northern Gaza that killed one and wounded several others.
Zeale News has reported that despite the U.S.-backed ceasefire framework signed in October 2025, both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeated ceasefire violations, and Israeli strikes have reportedly killed hundreds of Palestinians.
“We are in a difficult humanitarian phase, and what I see as a believer, and as someone who has lived here for nearly forty years, is that this is not the time to express great confidence in multilateral international political institutions,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said, according to L’Espresso. “This is a tangible reality.”
According to an unofficial translation of an article in the Italian outlet La Repubblica, Cardinal Pizzaballa said 53% of the Gaza Strip is under direct control of Israel, and approximately two million people “are almost displaced.” He also said that while hunger conditions have improved in the region, medical professionals in the region lack antibiotics and other supplies that would allow them to provide basic care.” Most of the population lives in tents, and schools have been shut down for nearly three years.
The crisis has eroded confidence in political institutions, Cardinal Pizzaballa warned. He called it an “extremely difficult time,” especially because “there is a continuing assault on any horizon for the future of a Palestinian state. The hatred created by this war is very deep, and talking about reconstruction has become difficult.”
He also described conditions in the West Bank as dire.
“There are continuous checkpoints in the territory, the Palestinian land registry is not recognized, and the qualifications of Palestinians are not recognized,” he said, according to La Repubblica.
The patriarch called for peacebuilding efforts rooted in local communities and “social and religious organizations” rather than high-level diplomatic negotiations.
“International agreements have shown their weakness,” he said, according to L’Espresso. “We are in a phase in which the powerful decide according to their own standards, which do not serve the common good. War, politically and socially, has not ended yet.”
Peace will not come “from agreements,” he said, but from those “who work patiently and diligently on the ground to create something beautiful with others.”
He urged listeners not to shy away from constructive criticism, saying individuals should not simply go along with everything but be willing to challenge what is wrong in “a constructive way, by offering alternatives.”
The meeting in Bologna was attended by Emilia-Romagna Region President Michele de Pascale, Legislative Assembly President Maurizio Fabbri, and Archbishop of Bologna Cardinal Matteo Zuppi.
Cardinal Pizzaballa’s comments come as tensions in the Holy Land continue to draw international concern. As Zeale News has reported, Gazans have suffered under violent conditions, and residents of the West Bank have for years faced violent attacks by Jewish settlers, land incursions, and tight movement restrictions in parts of the territory. The Vulnerable People’s Project (VPP), a U.S.-based Catholic apostolate supporting Christian communities in Gaza and the West Bank, reported Feb. 24 that Israeli forces had sealed off multiple entrances to the Bethlehem governorate.
Meanwhile, Israel’s cabinet voted Feb. 15 to begin land registration in West Bank Area C, a territory that includes part of Palestine, Zeale News reported, citing The Times of Israel. Critics warned the step could amount to “de-facto annexation.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee recently suggested that Israel could have a legitimate claim to much of the land in the Middle East, Zeale News reported Feb. 22. His comments drew swift backlash from several Arab nations, which reiterated their “firm rejection of any attempts to annex the West Bank or separate it from the Gaza Strip.” They cautioned that what they describe as Israel’s “expansionist policies and unlawful measures” would “inflame violence and conflict in the region and undermine the prospects for peace.” The Trump administration has also publicly opposed the annexation of the West Bank.