Pope Leo held a phone conversation on Monday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the surge in violence across the West Bank, the Vatican announced.
This marked their first official communication since Pope Leo assumed the papacy.
According to the Vatican statement, the Pope reiterated his call for full adherence to international humanitarian law. He particularly stressed the need to safeguard civilians and religious sites, condemned the indiscriminate use of force, and opposed any forced displacement of populations.
The Pope also highlighted the urgent need to assist those most affected by the conflict and underscored the importance of ensuring the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to the region.
The conversation came just days after a phone call between the Pope and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which followed an Israeli strike on Gaza’s sole Catholic church that claimed three lives.
On Sunday, Pope Leo denounced the “barbarity” occurring in Gaza and renewed his plea for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The Holy See has long supported a two-state solution and was among the first European states to formally recognize Palestine, through a 2015 agreement.
In a symbolic gesture of peace in 2014, then-Pope Francis hosted Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Abbas at the Vatican, where they jointly planted an olive tree in the gardens.
