Let's speak now to someone who knows a lot about the Catholic community in Garza, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. Thank you for joining us. What on earth has happened there over the weekend?

Well, as far as I know, and the information comes from, I think, a very reliable source, the Cardinal in Jerusalem, who's the patriarch for that parish. He said that the compound around the Church of the Holy Family was attacked. It's some of its crucial infrastructure was targeted with rockets. And I think most distressing of all, an elderly lady who was leaving the Church to go to the toilet was shot dead, and then her daughter who went out to try and assist her was killed as well. All of this within what has been clearly designated as a church place, which I cannot believe for one minute has rocket launchers in it. And it's a community that since October has sheltered hundreds of people and looked after them. And the religious sisters, the nuns that have been cooking and feeding people, and the house where they live in that compound where they look after 54 very handicapped people. The water tanks were blown off, the solar panels were blown off, and the house was rendered almost uninhabitable. So it's a desperate situation for them.

The popes called it terrorism. How would you describe it?

Well, it's certainly a cold, blooded killing. That's the description that is given. And what absolutely puzzles me is this does nothing to further Israel's right to defend itself, which I understand. The last time I was there, and that's a few years ago, it was made very clear to me that Gaza and this community, particularly, lived under the domination of Hamas. They would have maybe six hours' electricity a day, and then the rest of it would be switched to the underground network. That's four or five years ago, and it won't have weakened. But the killing of evidently vulnerable and innocent people seems to me to set back what Israel says it's trying to achieve.

What explanation could there be?

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know about the management of soldiers in uniform and the discipline that they should be exercising. But we've seen in a number of ways that discipline is broken down. And these would appear to be just random shootings. So I hope those responsible for it, because this is a structured army, will be held to account for what they've done.

You wouldn't go as far as how the Pope has described the situation incredibly strong language from the Holy Father saying that it was a terrorist attack.

Well, I'm not sure of the technicality is frankly. This is the army of a state. So I would prefer to say it was a cold, blooded killing. And what is so terrible is this just one example of what seemed would seem to be many, but one example that touches me deeply and one example from which we have some very objective evidence.

The Israeli Defense says didn't happen, wasn't them?

Well, I think that's hard to believe, frankly, because the people in Gaza and the Cardinal Archbishop of Jerusalem, they're not given to tell lies.

So you don't believe the Israeli Defense Force?

No, I don't.

Talk to me about the conditions inside that compound at the moment.

Well, it's hard to imagine, actually. It's quite a limited compound. There are a number of buildings as the Church, as the house where the priests lived, as the Sisters, the hospital that they have, a hall. It's hard to know, the last reports were that their basic water supply, as it was running with a pump, the pump has been broken. They're resourceful people, but I think they will now be afraid to go outside that compound onto the street. It's just very difficult to know what is going to happen. And that's where for people of faith, that's where we pray. It is interesting that the parish is dedicated to the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, precisely because when they were fleeing from the threat of being killed, they walked those same streets. So they went to Egypt and they went through Gaza. That was the route. So all those people in Gaza who are fleeing more than once, they're actually in the same footsteps as that Holy family.

What can be done to help those that are basically trapped in this compound?

Well, I think they, and I suspect it's repeated in many other places, must look to the political leadership. I would wish to give full support to David Cameron's appeal yesterday for what he called a structured ceasefire, a ceasefire that has a structure to it. There's some movement from both sides and the objectives are very clear, and they are to bring humanitarian aid in and very rightly, try and free hostages. What seems to be quite clear is that the only time hostages had been freed was when there was the last ceasefire. This military action does not look as if it's going to free any hostages.

There's so much hurt and heartache and anger on both sides. Two-state solution that we've heard, talked about so many times, seems to be not much more than a slogan at the moment.

Yeah, I agree. Mr. Cameron did talk in that article that he wrote about a greater involvement from other Arab states, and that would seem to me to be a hoped for but may be necessary engagement. But I don't think there's much concrete sign of it at the moment, but these are the elements that need to be brought. As you say, the anger and the dismay and the distress is profound on both sides. I think I quite understand the mentality and the mind of the Jewish people when they say, Who will defend us? And they say, We have to do it ourselves. I understand that, and I understand the absolute horror of Hamas who use and instrumentalize the people of Gaza. And they are deep rooted anger, which I fear are only being fed by some of the action of prison.

How does what's happening in the Middle East, both what happened on the seventh of October and has been happening since, how much does that challenge your faith?

Anyone with a faith goes through dark times. And there's no doubt that the capacity of human beings for violence and cruelty is astonishing. But my faith is pretty firm that in this person of Jesus Christ, the only one who has conquered death, there is a focus of hope and a source of hope. And that hope needs the pathway of reconciliation to go with it. And that's what my prayer is, I believe. That's what every Christian's prayer would be. And I think other people of goodwill who have a faith in God, I hope we'll use this time to implore that God will touch hearts that have been hardened over so many decades so that we can move forward.

Before I let you go, Archbishop, thank you for taking the time and a word for the story that we've been carrying about 140,000 children in England who will not have a home.

This Christmas. It is. It's a complex and shocking problem. It's to do partly with the breakdown of family relationships. It's to do with the lack of the systems that people need. I know in the parishes of the Westminster Diocese, and many, many, many other places, great efforts are made to provide some treats at Christmas, some regular food. The food banks are working. We heard this morning of the Kings' one million pound gift of freezers so that those food banks in many street corners can do more to assist. But that doesn't get to the structural and underlying problems. We still got a huge economic challenge to try and find a way in which there's meaningful employment for people who at the moment maybe are working and even with work, can't sustain a broken family, or many who have no chance of work.

Archbishop, thank you for taking the time. Thank you. Thank you.