“I demand once again an immediate end to this brutal war and a peaceful solution to the conflict,” Leo XIV emphasized after the Angelus prayer.
According to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff stated that “recently, dramatic news has continued to arrive from the Middle East, especially from Gaza,” and once again expressed his profound sorrow for the recent attack by the Israeli army on the parish of the Holy Family.
The Bishop of Rome remembered that last Thursday’s bombing of the Catholic Church in the Strip “claimed the lives of three Christians and seriously injured others,” an act that “comes on top of the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza.”
“I appeal to the international community to respect humanitarian law and the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,” the Holy Father said.
Shortly before, after presiding over Holy Mass, the leader of the Catholic Church asserted that the world can no longer bear this war and “we must truly work for peace.” On July 18, the Supreme Pontiff held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom he reiterated his call for renewed momentum in negotiations, a ceasefire, and an end to the war.
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