U.S. bishops ask for ‘intense prayers’ for Hamas-Israel peace amid Gaza’s ‘disastrous’ conditions

In response to President Donald Trump’s announcement last week of a deal between the U.S.-led Board of Peace, Israel, and Hamas, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) called for “intense prayers” for the deal’s success as Gaza faces a worsening humanitarian crisis.

In an Aug. 3 statement , Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, said he is “heartened by news of an agreement which aims at the disarmament of Hamas and Israel’s military withdrawal from the [Gaza] Strip,” calling for “intense prayers for the success of these negotiations.”

“As I previously articulated , as ‘people of faith who deeply care for all our brothers and sisters who live in the land of Christ’s life, death, and glorious resurrection, we cannot lose this opportunity for peace,’” Zaidan continued, calling on the U.S., Israel, and the international community “to facilitate greater amounts of humanitarian and development assistance to the Strip.”

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on July 30 that his Board of Peace had reached a deal for Hamas to fully disarm after nearly three years of war.

“The agreement will be carried out in…