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
The resolution passed on Wednesday by the United Nations General Assembly, calling for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months, represents yet another example of misguided international pressure that not only lacks practicality but also undermines prospects for a meaningful peace process.
The Kremlin warned on Wednesday that an attack on Lebanese group Hezbollah and others using exploding pagers could become a trigger for a wider regional conflict and called for its perpetrators to be identified in an investigation.
Israel's Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations that killed nine people, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters.
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