Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and the sovereign of the Vatican City, met separately on Wednesday with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians with family in Gaza. Following these meetings, the Pope spoke in unscripted remarks at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square, where he earnestly pleaded for peace and an end to what he called terrorism and 'the passions that are killing everyone.'"
Expressing his firsthand understanding of the suffering on both sides, Francis stated, "Here we’ve gone beyond war. This isn’t war anymore; this is terrorism. Please, let us go ahead with peace. Pray for peace, pray a lot for peace."
He also asked for God to help both Israeli and Palestinian people “resolve problems and not go ahead with passions that are killing everyone in the end.”
The Pope's comments and meetings occurred shortly after Israel's government and Hamas agreed to a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, allowing for humanitarian aid and the release of hostages and prisoners. The truce is set for at least four days.
Pope has consistently advocated for a two-state solution. In a recent interview with Italy's RAI broadcaster, he said, "(Those are) two peoples who have to live together. With that wise solution, two states. The Oslo accords, two well-defined states and Jerusalem with a special status."
So far, More than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and minors, and more than 2,700 others are missing and believed to be buried under rubble, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says it has been unable to update its count since Nov. 11 because of the health sector’s collapse. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’s attacks stands at about 1,200.
