Pope Francis made a strong call this Sunday for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, asking that access to humanitarian aid in Gaza be guaranteed and that Israeli hostages be freed by the Palestinian Islamist group.
“Cease the fire! Cease the fire! Cease the fire! Stop, brothers and sisters. War is always a defeat,” said and repeated vehemently, several times, the leader of the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis made the call after praying the Sunday Angelus prayer, from the window of the Apostolic Palace and in front of thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, in Vatican City.
Likewise, the pontiff once again asked that “in Gaza, in particular, space be left to guarantee humanitarian aid” and urged the immediate release of the hostages.
“Let us not give up. We continue to pray for Ukraine, also for the serious situation in Palestine and Israel and for other territories at war,” he said.
Francis also thanked the faithful who followed last Friday the day of prayer and fasting to invoke peace, which concluded with a special mass celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica and in which the Pope stated that the world is living “an hour of darkness”.
This week, the leader of the Catholic Church had a telephone conversation with the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which he expressed the position of the Holy See on the situation in the Holy Land, “hoping that a solution can be reached.” two States and a special agreement”. status for the city of Jerusalem,” the Vatican said.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people. 229 people were also kidnapped and have since remained in the hands of the Islamist group.
After the attack, Israel responded with bombings and ground raids into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
A total of 7,703 people were killed in Gaza and 18,967 were injured by the bombings that Israel carried out three weeks ago.
Source: TSF
