Pope Francis has once again pleaded for an end to the ongoing Hamas-Israeli conflict amid fear that it could widen.
He also called for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into to the Gaza Strip.
“War is always a defeat, it is a destruction of human fraternity. Brothers, stop! Stop!” Francis said after his traditional Angelus prayer in Rome’s Saint Peter’s Square.
“I renew my call for spaces to be opened, for humanitarian aid to continue to arrive and for hostages to be freed,” the 86-year-old pontiff said.
On October 13, 2023, Pope Francis appealed for peace in the Holy Land and said Israel has the right to defend itself, but affirmed that violence cannot help achieve a lasting peace built on justice.
At least 4,651 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said Sunday.
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