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Pope Francis is urging Israeli and Palestinian leaders to put down their arms and spare the children, in the latest round of hostilities between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The injury and death of so many innocent people puts the entire area at risk of sinking into “a spiral of death and destruction,” he says.
Most alarmingly, children are and will continue to be victims, he adds.
As armed violence between Israel and Hamas intensified over the weekend, Francis spoke of finding ways to end the conflict and restoring peace to the region.
On Sunday – after reciting the “Regina Coeli” prayer with hundreds of people in St. Peter’s Square – he begged leaders of both sides “to put a stop to the roar of weapons and to follow the paths of peace, even with the help of the international community.”
The death and injury count keeps rising. As of Monday morning nearly 200 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza, including 58 children. At the same time, at least 11 Israeli’s had been reported dead. One of those victims was also a child.
“Many people have been injured and many innocent people have died. Among them are even children, and this is terrible and unacceptable. Their death is a sign that one does not want to build the future, but wants to destroy it.”
Francis told the crowd that the growing hatred and violence in different cities in Israel – many of which have mixed Jewish-Arab populations – “is a serious wound to fraternity and to peaceful coexistence among citizens, which will be difficult to heal if we do not open immediately to dialogue.”
Jewish mobs had destroyed Arab property, while Arab mobs attacked Jewish businesses and burned synagogues. There have been attempted lynchings on both sides over the past week.
“Where will hatred and vengeance lead? Do we really think we can build peace by destroying the other?” he asked.
He appealed for calm, a cease-fire between Israeli and Palestinian forces and constant prayers so “Israelis and Palestinians may find the path of dialogue and forgiveness, to be patient builders of peace and justice, opening up, step by step, to a common hope, to a coexistence among brothers and sisters.”
He then led those gathered in the square in praying the Hail Mary for the victims, the children and for peace.
He went on to invite those gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray unceasingly so “that the Israelis and Palestinians may find the path of dialogue and forgiveness, to be patient builders of peace and justice, opening up, step after step, to a common hope, to a coexistence among brothers and sisters”.
Citing the Document on Human Fraternity, which he signed in 2019 with Al-Azhar Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb, Francis launched his appeal for peace:
“In the name of God who has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and who has called them to live together as brothers and sisters.”
Francis and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have reportedly spoken this week about the ongoing attacks.
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