Pope renews call for immediate Gaza ceasefire
'I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,' the pontiff said at the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer from his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo.
Leo also expressed his 'deep sorrow' for the Israeli attack on the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, which killed three people and wounded 10 others, including the parish priest.
'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,' the Pope added.
The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 21st month.
Israel expressed regret over what it described as an accident and said it is investigating.
'We need to dialogue and abandon weapons,' the Pope said earlier today, after presiding over Mass at the nearby Cathedral of Albano.
Advertisement
'The world no longer tolerates war.'
Gaza
The bodies of Palestinians who were killed while attempting to access aid trucks entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel are brought to a clinic in Gaza City.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Pope Leo's call for a ceasefire comes as at least 73 people have been killed while attempting to access aid at locations across Gaza, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory has said.
The largest toll was in the northern part of the territory, where 67 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel.
More than 150 people were injured, with some of them in a critical condition, hospitals said.
Seven Palestinians were also killed while sheltering in tents in Khan Younis, including a five-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialised Field Hospital, which received the casualties.
It was not immediately clear whether they were killed by the Israeli army or armed gangs, or both. But some witnesses said the Israeli military shot at the crowd.
The Israeli military said soldiers had shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who posed a threat, and that it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers being reported by teams in Gaza were far higher than the military's initial investigation found.
The military added it is attempting to facilitate the entry of aid, and blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
25 minutes ago
- The Journal
Foreign Affairs Committee recommends inclusion of services in Israeli settlements trade ban
A COMMITTEE HAS 'unanimously' recommended that services should be included in the Government's proposed ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements, a TD has said. The Oireachtas Foreign Affairs committee is making the recommendation after hearing evidence from expert witnesses in relation to the Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025. The report containing the recommendation is expected to be published next Wednesday. The Irish Government has said it will legislate to ban the trade of goods with illegal Israeli settlements following an advisory opinion from the UN's top court. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said last year that countries should 'take steps to prevent trade or investment relations' that maintain illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Although the opinion does not differentiate between types of trade, government figures have indicated a ban on services is more legally complex. Sinn Féin TD and member of the committee Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said the 'vitally important' recommendation to include services received 'no push back' from any committee member. He said that could encompass services across financial, tech and accommodation sectors. Advertisement 'Clearly, morally, the same issue arises whether it is goods or services, you're still trading with illegal settlements that are undermining the potential for peace in the Middle East.' He lamented the humanitarian disaster and widespread starvation in Gaza in what he called 'human rights abuses upon human rights abuses' in the Palestinian enclave. The foreign affairs committee's recommendation has been welcomed by Christian Aid Ireland as 'hugely significant'. The charity's head of policy Conor O'Neill said: 'Despite all the spin, misinformation and threats, TDs and senators from both Government and opposition spent weeks looking at the Occupied Territories Bill in detail, weighing up the evidence, hearing from experts and considering the impact. 'They have said unequivocally: it is time to ban all trade with the illegal Israeli settlements, both goods and services, in line with international law. 'This is a crucial vote of confidence and a clear message to Government that we must do this right. 'Ultimately it doesn't matter whether you're importing a box of olives produced on stolen Palestinian farmland, or booking a holiday rental in a stolen Palestinian home on a service platform like Airbnb. 'A euro of support is a euro of support, and the ICJ was clear that all of it has to end. The Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee have upheld this very strongly today, and Government must listen. 'We need to pass a full, effective Occupied Territories Bill as a matter of urgency.'
The Journal
2 hours ago
- The Journal
Over 220 MPs call for Britain to recognise Palestine as Starmer says this will be 'part of wider plan'
SOME 221 MPS from across different political parties have joined forces to call on the UK Government to recognise a Palestinian state. The MPs have urged the UK Government to take the step ahead of a United Nations conference in New York next week. This follows France's announcement yesterday evening it will formally recognise Palestine at a UN summit in September. France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognise Palestine. More than 140 countries recognise a Palestinian state, including Ireland, doing so last May . The MPs' letter, co-ordinated by Labour's Sarah Champion, said: 'We are expectant that the outcome of the conference will be the UK Government outlining when and how it will act on its long-standing commitment on a two-state solution; as well as how it will work with international partners to make this a reality.' Parliamentarians from Labour, the Conservatives, Lib Dems, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents are among those who signed the letter. Champion acknowledged 'recognition alone will not end the suffering in Gaza or the rapid expansion of settlements and settler violence in the West Bank'. But she said it would be an important step on the path towards a two-state solution to end the war. The Labour MP added: 'Recognition would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people, that they are not alone and they need to maintain hope that there is a route that leads to lasting peace and security for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.' Ministers have faced growing calls to recognise a Palestinian state immediately amid mounting global anger over the starving population in Gaza. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this evening that such a move needed to be part of the 'pathway' to peace in the Middle East, which he and allies are working towards. 'That pathway will set out the concrete steps needed to turn the ceasefire so desperately needed, into a lasting peace,' Starmer said. He added: 'Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that. Advertisement 'But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.' He also said that the 'appalling scenes in Gaza are unrelenting' and added: 'The continued captivity of hostages, the starvation and denial of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, the increasing violence from extremist settler groups, and Israel's disproportionate military escalation in Gaza are all indefensible. In a statement released today alongside the leaders of France and Germany, Starmer urged 'all parties to bring an end to the conflict by reaching an immediate ceasefire'. Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also called for Israel to stop restricting the flow of aid into Gaza. Charities operating in Gaza have said Israel's blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing people there towards starvation, warning that they are seeing their own workers and Palestinians 'waste away'. Israel says it allows enough aid into the territory and faults delivery efforts by UN agencies, which say they are hindered by Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of security. As he left for Scotland today, US President Donald Trump suggested that Macron's announcement that France would recognise Palestinian statehood was unimportant. 'What he says doesn't matter', Trump told reporters at the White House. Starmer will meet the US president during his five-day private trip to Scotland. US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short yesterday, with Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a 'lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'. The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce. Hamas-led militants based in Gaza abducted 251 people in the 7 October attack in 2023 that triggered the war and killed about 1,200 people. Fewer than half of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive. Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on starvation in Gaza: the world cannot look away
After 21 months of harrowing images from Gaza, photographs this week of emaciated children still have the power to shock. More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups have issued urgent warnings of mass starvation and called on governments worldwide to intervene. The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have warned that Gaza is on the brink of running out of specialised therapeutic food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children. Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to fire on Palestinian civilians who are desperately seeking food, killing hundreds. A fresh incursion by the Israel Defense Forces into central Gaza has wrought yet more destruction and death. Any prospect of an end to the violence remains elusive. Early hopes of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks, sparked by an initially positive Israeli response to the latest proposals from Hamas, were extinguished within hours when the US and Israel withdrew their negotiating teams from Qatar, saying Hamas was not acting in good faith. With reports of rising starvation in Gaza growing ever more urgent, a far-right minister in the Israeli government made a deeply disturbing statement on Thursday. Amichay Eliyahu declared that Israel had no duty to alleviate hunger in the territory and was actively seeking to expel its population. His chilling comparison that 'there is no nation that feeds its enemies' – adding that 'the British didn't feed the Nazis, nor did the Americans feed the Japanese' – displays a disregard for Palestinian lives as well as being a gross misrepresentation of the nature of the current conflict. READ MORE As an occupying power with total control over Gaza's entry points and overwhelming military dominance over its civilian population, Israel bears clear responsibility for what is happening there. Although Israeli military officials denied that Eliyahu's statements reflected their strategy in Gaza, Binyamin Netanyahu's government declined to rebut them. The contempt for human rights expressed by the minister lends credence to accusations that Israel is engaged in systematic war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a notable development on Friday, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognise the state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The decision was predictably condemned by the American and Israeli governments. But, coming from a major power, it marks a significant shift. Taoiseach Micheál Martin was correct, however, when he said last month that the inability of EU member states to come to a unified position on the issue was a 'stain' on the union. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza demands immediate action. The silence of some world leaders is dangerously close to complicity. It is no longer sustainable.
