In remarks following the Angelus prayer, the Holy Father referred to recent events indicating an escalation of the crisis in the Middle East.

On July 24, a resident of one of the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank killed four Palestinians from the town of Tell as they attempted to protect their homes.

Four other people were wounded—three of them critically—by gunfire from Tel Aviv’s soldiers who supported the incursion, according to reports from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and resident testimonies.

Israeli military sources immediately announced “an extensive operation throughout the West Bank,” foreshadowing an increase in Zionist attacks against the local population—attacks in which these forces cause deaths and destroy homes after looting them, displaced Palestinians reported.

This week, authorities at the Al-Aqsa Mosque—one of Islam’s three holiest sites, alongside the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina—condemned the incursion of thousands of Israelis from illegal settlements, incited by Tel Aviv’s Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The Pontiff issued “a fervent appeal for the resumption of negotiations toward a just political solution, based on the equal dignity and rights of every person.”

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