Pope calls for urgent aid for Gaza and encourages peace efforts

Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash

Source: Vatican News

During the Angelus with pilgrims in St Peter's Square today, Pope Francis once again appealed to the international community to act urgently to help the people of Gaza with desperately needed humanitarian aid.

At the end of a weekend in which millions of campaigners around the world held marches and vigils for peace, this evening aid agencies reported that at least 274 people in Gaza were killed today and more than 700 injured in the Israel attack on Nuseirat camp - bringing the death toll to over 37,000. Many more displaced people are suffering from hunger and disease in the camps as aid workers struggle to reach them.

In his Angelus address the Pope encouraged peace efforts at the forthcoming international summit hosted by the King of Jordan focusing on the humanitarian emergency in Gaza. He thanked the King, the President of Egypt and Secretary General of the United Nations, for this "important initiative." He strongly encouraged the international community to "act urgently" and use all means possible to assist the people of Gaza exhausted by the war. He appealed that humanitarian aid quickly "reach those in need" and that no one should prevent it from arriving.

The Pope recalled that 8 June 2024 marked the tenth anniversary of the Invocation for Peace that took place in the Vatican, attended by the late Israeli President, Shimon Peres, and Palestinian President Abu Mazen. He said that encounter showed that "joining hands is possible, and that it takes courage to make peace, far more courage than to wage war."

The Pope then strongly encouraged ongoing negotiations between those involved, "even though they are not easy," while expressing hopes that proposals for peace, a ceasefire on all fronts, and the release of the hostages, "will be accepted immediately for the good of Palestinians and Israelis."

Recalling the tormented people of Ukraine who continue to suffer and yearn for peace, the Pope asked those present to remember them in our thoughts and prayers. Greeting a Ukrainian group present in Saint Peter's Square he told them: "We are close to you."
He said people want peace, and he encouraged once again that "all efforts" be made "so that peace can be built as soon as possible, with international help."

Finally the Pope recalled those suffering in Myanmar and asked pilgrims to keep them in their thoughts and prayers as well.