A senior Palestinian bishop was in Ireland this week to thank Irish people for their support of Gaza, but also warn that the situation is being forgotten with attention focused on the Strait of Hormuz and US-Iran tensions. Bishop William Shomali – who hails from a small village near Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank – led a special pilgrimage of peace in Knock shrine in Co. Mayo on Saturday May 16. “Gaza is forgotten. Today all attention is on Iran & southern Lebanon, but in the Strip, two million people are still suffering: the issue is unresolved,” he said, ahead of his visit as a guest of the humanitarian agency Aid to the Church in Need Ireland. His visit comes amidst an upsurge in attacks on Palestinian villages and land grabs in the occupied West Bank by militant Israeli settlers. According to the United Nations (UN), 1,090 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the October 7 war in Gaza, in addition to the tens of thousands killed in Gaza “The international community really needs to focus attention on what is happening in Palestine,” Bishop Shomali said ahead of his visit. In his work as an auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Bishop Shomali has been able to visit Gaza twice since the war began and also supports under-fire Palestinian villages in the West Bank. “The economy there is collapsing, and many basic necessities remain scarce: medicines, antibiotics, medical equipment. “Every day Palestinians in Gaza are killed, while the Rafah crossing does not function as it should.” The bishop lamented that in regards to reconstruction, “no one talks about it anymore.” Yet “80% of the infrastructure is still destroyed.”If you would like to help Palestine you can send a donation to Aid to the Church in Need Saint Joseph’s, 151 St Mobhi Road. Glasnevin, Dublin 9, D09 HC82 | +353 1 837 7516 info@acnireland.org