Cardinal offers to swap places with children kidnapped by Hamas

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa

Source: Vatican News

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has expressed his willingness to exchange himself for the kidnapped children held by Hamas and discussed the Holy See's mediation efforts with regards to the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the Holy Land.

In an online meeting with a journalists, Cardinal Pizzaballa, declared: "If I am ready for an exchange? Anything, if this can lead to freedom and bring those children back home, no problem. On my part, absolute willingness."

Cardinal Pizzaballa also spoke about the Holy See's offer of mediation, emphasizing the desire to rescue the captives. He noted, "We have offered our readiness at least to try to bring the hostages back, at least some of them, this is being attempted. It is very difficult because, for mediation, you need to have interlocutors. And at this moment, it's not possible to talk to Hamas."

Turning his attention to the possibility of an Israeli ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, Cardinal Pizzaballa said: "My concerns are essentially twofold: the first is, following the ground operation, I don't know what it's called, the much more severe humanitarian crisis that will be created. This is the first fear, as there will undoubtedly be many victims." Then, he shared, "the other fear," which is "that this conflict becomes a regional conflict, involving not only Gaza or possibly the West Bank but also Lebanon, then the Islamic world could ignite, all the Arab countries: I don't know, it's very difficult to predict the developments, but the fear of regional expansion is real, and I'm not the only one saying it."