Pope urges immediate end to 'barbarity' of Gaza war
The pope, who spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the morning after Thursday's strike, spoke of his "deep sorrow" for the attack on the Holy Family Church. The church was sheltering around 600 displaced people, the majority of them children and including dozens of people with special needs. Israel expressed "deep sorrow" over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating the strike.
"This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza," Leo said on Sunday. "I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations," he added.
The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip, warning of imminent action against Hamas militants. Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which is now in its 22 nd month.
The pope also expressed his "sympathy" for the plight of "beloved Middle Eastern Christians" and their "sense of being able to do little in the face of this dramatic situation."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
9 hours ago
- Euronews
Foreign ministers of 25 countries call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Twenty-five countries, including France, Belgium and the United Kingdom, issued a joint statement on Monday saying the war in Gaza "must end now" and Israel must comply with international law. The foreign ministers representing the cosignatories said "the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths' and condemned 'the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food." "The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity," the statement said. "The Israeli government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law," it added. In January, Israel banned the main UN organisation delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza, UNRWA, from operating, claiming the agency turned a blind eye to Hamas members in its ranks. Responsibility for aid distribution was handed over to the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which had no previous experience of delivering aid to combat zones. Its delivery method has been criticised by established aid groups, and deliveries at its four distribution sites across Gaza have often seen people killed, either in crowd crushes or after Israeli forces or security contractors opened fire near aid-seekers. The signatories included the foreign ministers of around 20 European countries as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management. The signatories called for an immediate ceasefire, adding they are prepared to take action to support a political pathway to peace in the region. Gaza's population of more than 2 million Palestinians is in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, according to international organisations, now relying mainly on the limited aid allowed into the territory. Many people have been displaced multiple times. The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Hamas took 251 people as hostages, and is currently holding 50, of whom 20 are believed to be alive. A subsequent Israeli offensive has resulted in the deaths of at least 59,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The Israeli military says 850 of its soldiers have died since the start of the war. Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, which have so far produced no concrete results. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas in negotiations. On Monday, the IDF launched its first ground operation into the central city of Deir al-Balah but gave no information about its aims and objectives.
LeMonde
10 hours ago
- LeMonde
War in Gaza 'must end now' say 25 Western nations in joint statement
A group of 25 Western countries including Australia, Canada, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, declared on Monday that the war in Gaza "must end now," arguing that civilians' suffering had "reached new depths." "We urge the parties and the international community to unite in a common effort to bring this terrible conflict to an end, through an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," the grouping added in a joint statement. "Further bloodshed serves no purpose. We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve this." The signatories – which also included Japan, several EU countries, Switzerland and New Zealand – added they were "prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire." The wide-ranging statement branded the controversial Israeli-supported relief effort in Gaza as "dangerous" and said it deprives Gazans of "human dignity." "We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food," the statement said. "The Israeli government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable," it added, urging Israel to "comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law." 'Lift restrictions on aid' The statement called for the Israeli government "to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life saving work safely and effectively." The UN said last week that it had recorded 875 people who had been killed in Gaza while trying to get food via the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). It has replaced UN agencies as the main distributor of aid in the territory. The 25-nation statement also condemned the continued detention of hostages in Gaza by Hamas militants, demanding "their immediate and unconditional release" and noting a negotiated ceasefire "offers the best hope of bringing them home." Meanwhile, the signatories said they "strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories" and said an Israeli plan to shift Palestinians into a so-called "humanitarian city" was unacceptable. "Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law," they warned. The statement was also signed by EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib.
Euronews
10 hours ago
- Euronews
Israeli military launches first ground operation in Deir al-Balah
The Israeli military has launched a ground operation on Monday in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, sending in tanks a day after dropping leaflets on neighbourhoods advising people to evacuate. The ground operation, the first to take place in the city since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza erupted in 2023, is being accompanied by aerial strikes by Israel's air force. Eyewitnesses said massive air strikes took place on the city overnight into Monday, one of the last remaining areas of the Strip not to suffer significant damage from the war. The city is hosting thousands of Palestinians displaced from southern Gaza and is also the main hub for erratic aid deliveries due to its central location. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cautioned against a military operation in Deir al-Balah after the IDF dropped evacuation orders on the city on Sunday. "OCHA warns that today's mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military has dealt yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip," the agency said in a statement. "With this latest order, the area of Gaza under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones has risen to 87.8%, leaving 2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12% of the Strip, where essential services have collapsed." The Israel Defence Forces haven't yet released a statement about the aims of the latest operation, but Israeli sources have said one of the reasons the IDF has so far stayed away from Deir al-Balah is that they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there. The militant group is still holding 50 people captive in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. The new military operation comes after Gaza suffered its deadliest day for aid-seekers in more than 21 months of war on Sunday, with at least 85 Palestinians killed while trying to access food, according to local and UN officials. The highest death toll was reported in northern Gaza, where the situation is especially desperate, when at least 70 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, according to health officials. The UN World Food Programme said 25 trucks with aid had entered for "starving communities" when it encountered massive crowds. The Israeli military said soldiers fired warning shots at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. It also rejected casualty reports as "exaggerated".
