Pope Leo XIV said Palestinians in Gaza “continue to live in fear and survive in unacceptable conditions” as he renewed his appeal for a ceasefire and “full respect for humanitarian law”. Source: NCR Online.
As tens of thousands of Palestinians were fleeing their homes as Israel launched a major new ground offensive in Gaza City, Pope Leo XIV expressed his “profound closeness to the Palestinian people in Gaza”.
They “continue to live in fear and survive in unacceptable conditions, forced once again to leave their lands,” he said to applause at the end of his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square yesterday.
“Before the Almighty Lord who commanded, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ and in the presence of all of human history, every person always has an inviolable dignity to be respected and protected,” he said.
The Pope renewed his appeal “for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, a negotiated diplomatic solution and full respect for international humanitarian law” while inviting everyone to join him “in heartfelt prayer that a dawn of peace and justice may soon arise.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said the long-planned operation to occupy Gaza City was aimed at Hamas’s “last major stronghold.” Heavy airstrikes hit portions of the city on Tuesday as Israeli troops began a gradual push from the outskirts.
The Israel Defense Forces estimated 350,000 people had fled the city by Tuesday, and more than half a million remain, the BBC reported. People were told to head south to a coastal part of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory determined that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza.
“It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention,” commission chair Navi Pillay said on Tuesday.
Danny Meron, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, rejected the commission’s findings, saying the report “falsely accuses Israel of genocidal intent”.
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Palestinians are living in ‘unacceptable’ conditions, Pope says (By Carol Glatz, CNS via NCR Online)
