Pope Francis, during his Sunday Angelus prayer at Saint Peter’s Square in Rome, renewed his plea for an immediate end to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Pope Francis urged all parties to cease fire, release hostages, and provide much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, describing the situation as “very serious”.
“I continue to think about the serious situation in Palestine and in Israel where many people have lost their lives,” he said after the traditional Angelus prayer at Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.
Expressing concern for the lives lost in the conflict, Pope Francis beseeched, “I beg you in the name of God to stop, cease fire,” he said.
READ ALSO: France President Calls For Joint Attack On Hamas
“I hope all the possibilities are being explored so that a widening of the conflict is absolutely avoided, that the wounded can be helped, and that aid can reach Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is very serious, and that the hostages be immediately released.”
Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, and taking 240 people hostage, according to Israeli authorities, in the deadliest attack in the country’s history.
Israel has relentlessly bombarded the besieged Gaza Strip in response, killing more than 9,770 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The pope has previously pleaded for an end to the conflict and for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip.
According to the Vatican, he spoke to US President, Joe Biden last month about “conflict situations in the world and the need to identify paths to peace.”