Pope Leo XIV and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke over the phone on Monday to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, with the Pope reiterating the need for peaceful dialogue amid escalating conflict. Source: Crux.
A communique from the Vatican on Tuesday said the Pope received a call from Mr Abbas that day “concerning the alarming developments in the conflict in the Middle East and the living conditions of the Palestinian people.”
“During the conversation, the Holy Father reaffirmed the Holy See’s commitment to achieving peace through political and diplomatic dialogue, as well as through full respect for international law,” the statement said.
The call came after some 16 people died over the weekend in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, according to health officials.
Several police officers were killed and over a dozen bystanders injured in a strike near the entrance to the town of Zawayda in the centre of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, while a missile strike in the refugee camp of Nuseirat in central Gaza struck a house and killed four people, including a young couple and their 10-year-old son. The nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital confirmed that the woman had been pregnant with twins.
The Pope’s appeal also comes amid rising international dispute over the US and Israeli-led war in Iran, which flared up in recent weeks and has expanded to Lebanon, where Israel is conducting strikes against Hezbollah forces.
On Sunday, Pope Leo made an appeal for an end to the conflict, lamenting that, “For two weeks now, the peoples of the Middle East have been suffering the horrific violence of war.”
“Thousands of innocent people have been killed, and countless others have been forced to flee their homes,” he said, asking that dialogue be resumed, as “violence can never lead to the justice, stability and peace for which the peoples are waiting.”
He also voiced “prayerful closeness to all who have lost loved ones in the attacks, which have struck schools, hospitals and residential areas.”
Prior to Monday’s phone call, Mr Abbas and Pope Leo held their first meeting in November, when Mr Abbas visited the Vatican to mark the 10th anniversary of the global agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine.
During that meeting, the two discussed the need to assist civilians in Gaza and the pursuit of a two-state solution to end the conflict in the region.
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Pope, Palestine president discuss ‘alarming’ situation in Middle East (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
