Israelis and Palestinians face "pain and mourning" over the Christmas period as the war in the Gaza Strip rages on, Pope Francis said on Tuesday, calling for prayers and "tangible aid" for the devastated enclave.
Pope Francis meets with Israeli relatives of hostages kidnapped amid conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the Vatican November 22, 2023. Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters
Israelis and Palestinians face "pain and mourning" over the Christmas period as the war in the Gaza Strip rages on, Pope Francis said on Tuesday, calling for prayers and "tangible aid" for the devastated enclave.
"For the inhabitants of the Holy Land, a Christmas of pain and mourning looms. We do not want to leave them alone. May we stand by them in prayer and tangible aid..." Francis wrote on social media platform X.
Israel's campaign to eradicate Hamas militants behind an Oct. 7 incursion and massacre of 1,200 people has left Gaza in ruins, brought widespread hunger and homelessness, and killed nearly 20,000 Gazans, the enclave's health ministry says.
Francis has called several times for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for the release of all hostages taken by Hamas.
Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Alvise Armellini and Mark Heinrich
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz declared Monday that Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza for an indefinite period, in a pointed statement that makes no reference to the US-Iran framework agreement announced the same day.
Authorities in southern Lebanon warned people displaced by three months of war between Israel and Hezbollah against rushing home on Monday despite a U.S.-Iran deal to end the wider conflict, as Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the south.
Let us call it what it is. The framework agreement on Iran is not a peace deal. It is a capitulation dressed up in diplomatic language, and its most immediate victims are the two countries that have paid the highest price in blood and treasure to confront Iran's aggression: Israel and Lebanon.
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