Pope Francis this Monday called for an end to military operations in Gaza, the release of hostages and addressing the Palestinian issue in his Christmas message, which he read on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
In this Christmas message, listing the world’s conflicts, Pope Francis asked that peace “come to Israel and Palestine, where war is shaking the lives of these peoples” and added: “I embrace both, especially the Christian communities of Gaza, the parish of Gaza and the entire Holy Land.”
The leader of the Catholic Church said he wears this “in my heart the pain for the victims of the horrific attack on October 7″without naming the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, and reiterated his call “until the release of those still held hostage”.
“I plead that military operations, with their dramatic consequences for innocent civilian victims, be halted and that the desperate humanitarian situation be addressed so that aid can arrive.”said Pope Francis.
On the other hand, the Pope asked “that violence and hatred should not continue to be fomented, but that a solution to the Palestinian question should be found, through a sincere and persistent dialogue between the parties, supported by strong political will and the support of the international community”.
Sunday the wife of the Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu]Sara Netanyahu sent an open letter to Pope Francis asking for his “personal intervention” and “his influence” for the release of 129 hostages still being held, considering that the Pope’s intervention could be decisive in saving the lives of these people.
On November 22, Francisco received a group of relatives of some hostages held by the Hamas group and asked for a new ceasefire so that everyone could be released, after also meeting people close to the Palestinians imprisoned in Gaza .
During his Christmas message, the Pope again called for an end to the war in Ukraine, Syria and Yemen, as well as an end to tensions between the two Koreas and in Sudan, South Sudan, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The leader of the Catholic Church also defended the end of arms production and criticized the allocation of huge amounts of public funds for weapons.
‘But to say no to war it is necessary to say no to weapons. For if a man, whose heart is unstable and wounded, finds instruments of death in his hands, sooner or later he will use them. How can anyone say that? of peace as the production, sale and trade of arms increases?”Pope Francis asked.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7 with the launch of thousands of rockets and the raid of armed militiamen, taking two hundred hostages.
In response, Israel declared war on Hamas, a movement that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as terrorist by the European Union and the United States.
Source: DN
