Pope Leo laments 'diabolical intensity' of Middle East conflicts, calls situation in Gaza 'inhumane'
Pope Leo said on Thursday that conflicts in the Middle East were raging with an unprecedented "diabolical intensity" and appealed for greater respect for international law, in comments to Catholic bishops and aid agencies operating in the region.
At a meeting in the Vatican, the pontiff said countries in the region were being "devastated by wars, plundered by special interests, and covered by a cloud of hatred that renders the air unbreathable and toxic.
"Today, violent conflict seems to be raging... with a diabolical intensity previously unknown," he said, adding that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza was "tragic and inhumane".
Leo, elected on 8 May to replace the late Pope Francis, appealed last month for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
2 hours ago
- Gulf Today
UN officials say new Gaza aid system leads to mass killings
United Nations officials on Friday said a US- and Israeli-backed distribution system in Gaza was leading to mass killings of people seeking humanitarian aid, drawing accusations from Israel that the UN was "aligning itself with Hamas". Eyewitnesses and local officials have reported repeated killings of Palestinians seeking aid at distribution centres over recent weeks in the war-stricken territory, where Israeli forces are battling Hamas militants. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,331 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable. Civil defence says 80 killed Gaza's civil defence agency told the media 80 Palestinians had been killed on Friday by Israeli strikes or fire across the Palestinian territory, including 10 who were waiting for aid. The Israeli military told AFP it was looking into the incidents, and denied its troops fired in one of the locations in central Gaza where rescuers said one aid seeker was killed. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP six people were killed in southern Gaza near one of the distribution sites operated by GHF, and one more in a separate incident in the centre of the territory, where the army denied shooting "at all". Palestinians help a child, as people inspect the site of an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, on Friday. Reuters Another three people were killed by a strike while waiting for aid southwest of Gaza City, Bassal said. Elsewhere, eight people were killed "after an Israeli air strike hit Osama Bin Zaid School, which was housing displaced persons" in northern Gaza. MSF said that in the week of June 8, shortly after GHF opened a distribution site in central Gaza's Netzarim corridor, the MSF field hospital in nearby Deir el-Balah saw a 190-percent increase in bullet wound cases compared to the previous week. The Israeli military has denied targeting people seeking aid and the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has denied any deadly incidents were linked to its sites. But following weeks of reports, UN officials and other aid providers on Friday denounced what they said was a wave of killings of hungry people seeking aid. "The new aid distribution system has become a killing field," with people "shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian affairs (UNWRA). "This abomination must end through a return to humanitarian deliveries from the UN including @UNRWA," he wrote on X. The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centres while seeking scarce supplies. The country's civil defence agency has also repeatedly reported people being killed while seeking aid. "People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Men carry away the body of a victim who was killed in a blaze following an Israeli strike at the UNRWA's Osama Bin Zaid school in the Saftawi district in western Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. AFP "The search for food must never be a death sentence." Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) branded the GHF relief effort "slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid". Israel denies targeting civilians That drew an angry response from Israel, which said GHF had provided 46 million meals in Gaza. "The UN is doing everything it can to oppose this effort. In doing so, the UN is aligning itself with Hamas, which is also trying to sabotage the GHF's humanitarian operations," the foreign ministry said. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a newspaper report that the country's military commanders ordered soldiers to fire at Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza. Left-leaning daily Haaretz had earlier quoted unnamed soldiers as saying commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds near aid distribution centres to disperse them even when they posed no threat. Haaretz said the military advocate general, the army's top legal authority, had instructed the military to investigate "suspected war crimes" at aid sites. Palestinians gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. Reuters The Israeli military declined to comment to AFP on the claim. Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz that their country "absolutely rejects the contemptible blood libels" and "malicious falsehoods" in the Haaretz article. The military said in a separate statement it "did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centres". It added that Israeli military "directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians." Israel blocked deliveries of food and other crucial supplies into Gaza from March for more than two months. It began allowing supplies to trickle in at the end of May, with GHF centres secured by armed US contractors and Israeli troops on the perimeter. Guterres said that from the UN, just a "handful" of medical deliveries had crossed into Gaza this week. Agence France-Presse
Dubai Eye
17 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
Israel halts aid into northern Gaza, officials say
Israel has stopped aid from entering northern Gaza but is still allowing it to enter from the south, two officials said after images circulated of masked men on aid trucks who clan leaders said were protecting aid, not Hamas stealing it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz, said late on Wednesday that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid. They cited new unspecified information indicating that Hamas was seizing aid intended for civilians in northern Gaza. A video circulating on Wednesday showed dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer told reporters that aid was continuing to enter from the south but did not specify whether any supplies were entering in the north. The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates aid distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, said on X that it was the only humanitarian organisation permitted on Thursday to distribute food in Gaza. A spokesperson said the foundation was exempt from a two-day suspension of humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory. The Israeli prime minister's office and the defence ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, which represents influential clans in Gaza, said that trucks had been protected as part of an aid security process managed "solely through tribal efforts". The commission said that no Palestinian faction, a reference to Hamas, had taken part in the process. Hamas, which ruled Gaza for more than two decades but now controls only parts of the territory after nearly two years of war with Israel, denied any involvement. Throughout the war, numerous clans, civil society groups and factions - including Hamas' rival Fatah - have stepped in to help provide security for the aid convoys. Clans made up of extended families connected through blood and marriage have long been a fundamental part of Gazan society. ACUTE SHORTAGE Amjad al-Shawa, director of an umbrella body for Palestinian non-governmental organisations, said the aid protected by clans on Wednesday was being distributed to vulnerable families. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. Aid trucks and warehouses storing supplies have often been looted, frequently by desperate and starving Palestinians. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. "The clans came... to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people," Abu Salman Al Moghani, a representative of Gazan clans, said, referring to Wednesday's operation. The Wednesday video was shared on X by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed that Hamas had taken control of aid allowed into Gaza by the Israeli government. Bennett is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Netanyahu at the next election. Netanyahu has also faced pressure from within his right-wing coalition, with some hardline members threatening to quit over ceasefire negotiations and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Middle East Eye
17 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Successful local efforts to get aid into north Gaza met with Israeli backlash
Successful local Palestinian efforts to organise the entry of aid to northern Gaza have prompted fresh restrictions by the Israeli military and violent looting by criminal gangs. Relief was brought into north Gaza for the first time in a month on Wednesday by local tribes, drawing anger from Israeli officials and members of the Israeli public. Northern Gaza has been under full siege since March, when Israel blocked all aid and goods from entering the territory and created a severe hunger crisis. In late May, the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), a recently launched and scandal-hit aid group, began distributing limited food parcels at four locations in south and central Gaza. The northern parts of the Palestinian enclave remain largely cut off from aid distributed through this mechanism. However, Israel has recently allowed a limited number of aid trucks carrying only wheat flour to enter some areas of the north. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters According to local reports, the recent Palestinian-led relief delivery, backed by local clans, saw several trucks enter safely and successfully, with their contents distributed on Thursday. Footage circulating online show dozens of trucks carrying aid from the United Nations World Food Programme entering the northern Gaza Strip. Others show tribesmen watching over the vehicles, some armed, attempting to shield it from looting by local gangs. However, another batch of essentials was looted on Thursday by gangs. Amjad al-Shawa, who oversees civil society groups in Gaza, said that 50 trucks scheduled to arrive into Gaza City were looted. Shawa said that the gangs, under the protection of the Israeli military, were working to "sow chaos" and divert aid. 'Israel seeks to perpetuate chaos and disorder in Gaza, and does not want the aid distribution process to adhere to humanitarian standards' - Amjad al-Shawa, civil society leader in Gaza "Israel seeks to perpetuate chaos and disorder in Gaza, and does not want the aid distribution process to adhere to humanitarian standards through distribution centers and databases," he said. "Israel seeks to sabotage the humanitarian system in Gaza by preventing the entry of aid through the United Nations and international institutions, replacing it with an American security company, thus creating internal violence among Gaza's citizens." Shawa urged the need to strengthen the role of UN humanitarian organisations and other groups that have "been working in Gaza for decades". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously admitted to arming gangs in Gaza, which have been accused by aid groups of stealing lifesaving humanitarian aid, in a bid to counter Hamas. Netanyahu said earlier this month his government had "activated" powerful local clans in the enclave on the advice of "security officials", hours after former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman alleged a gang Israel was backing was affiliated with the Islamic State group. "We made use of clans in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas… What's wrong with that?' Netanyahu said in a video posted on X. Targeting security and police Meanwhile, Israel has been condemned for attacking Palestinian police and security personnel who were trying to counter looters and criminals in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. "The Israeli occupation persists in its malicious plans and its efforts to spread chaos and destabilise the internal stability in the Gaza Strip by repeatedly targeting police and security personnel, with the aim of discouraging them from fulfilling their duty to protect the home front and confront the armed gangs operating under its command," the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza said in a statement. "This ongoing Israeli targeting will not achieve its goals. "The police and security services will continue to pursue thieves and those collaborating with the occupation, striking them with an iron fist, and taking all necessary measures to strengthen the steadfastness of citizens and preserve civil peace in the Gaza Strip." Israel has also killed three local police in Asdaa, west of Khan Younis, according to local reports. "The police and security apparatus in the Gaza Strip continues to perform its duty towards our people, despite the systematic targeting it is subjected to by the Israeli occupation through daily bombing and killing. This will not weaken our resolve or break our will," the ministry said. Israeli backlash and police targeting As Palestinian efforts to bring aid into north Gaza succeeded on Wednesday, Netanyahu ordered new restrictions on the region after backlash from prominent political leaders, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich threatened to leave Netanyahu's coalition following videos of aid trucks entering north Gaza. Netanyahu admits Israel armed Gaza gangs to drive lawlessness Read More » Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed Hamas was taking over aid efforts. The Gaza government disputed the claim, saying Israel was attempting to "legitimise the continued blockade, starvation and the prevention of humanitarian aid from entering for the 118th consecutive day". "We would like to clarify to the public that it was Palestinian families and clans who secured the aid convoys in the northern Gaza Strip, without any interference from the Palestinian government or factions," it stressed. "These cheap lies reveal that the occupation continues to 'engineer chaos' and spread falsehoods to create flimsy justifications for continuing to close the crossings and prevent the entry of aid, in a full-fledged crime against more than 2.4 million starving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip." Israel has previously accused Hamas of stealing aid and said the Israeli blockade on the entry of food is partly aimed at preventing the group from diverting supplies. But Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme and widow of late US senator John McCain, rubbished such allegations, saying much of the aid that is being looted is being seized by destitute Palestinians.
