ICC Note: Christmas is bringing renewed hope to the battered Syrian city of Aleppo according to one Jesuit priest. Churches in Aleppo have head up the relief campaign all through the four year siege. Now, with the ceasefire, everyone can take a breath and face the huge work ahead of rebuilding the city and its populace.

12/25/2016 Syria (Christian Post): A Jesuit priest in Aleppo who oversees humanitarian projects in Syria for a Catholic relief organization says Christmas is bringing renewed “hope for peace” for Christians and all citizens in the midst of the vast humanitarian catastrophe that has devastated the city, bringing ruin to churches and families.

Jesuit Father Ziad Hilal, who represents Aid to the Church in Need in Syria, a Catholic aid group that since the start of the civil war in 2011 has spent approximately $20 million in support of Christians, told The Christian Post that for the past few days a ceasefire between the rebels and regime forces has been holding.

“The arbitrary mortar shelling, bombs and missiles that used to shower civilians on a daily basis have stopped because of the ceasefire,” he said, noting that the city has been allowed to breathe “sighs of relief.”

But the humanitarian crisis left behind is staggering, he added.

“Many people had to evacuate their houses and shops due to violence. So many lives were lost, leaving countless numbers of widows and orphans. Trees and park benches are chopped off [for] heating in winter due to the scarcity of fuel and gas and, if made available, for their high price,” Hilal told CP.

“Of a city with 5 million inhabitants before the war, only 1.5 million remain living in it. The result of the last evacuation was so many homeless families living in the streets and deserted factories and under construction buildings from before the war, in this cold winter,” he added.

A majority of the evacuated children, he said, haven’t had a school to attend in over three years and aren’t being educated.

“This is a catastrophe for the upcoming generation, let alone the diseases that are spreading among the children and women,” he said, noting that many families have been left without a father.

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