Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

In his Christmas message this year, Pope Francis condemned the "desperate humanitarian situation" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and called for a ceasefire in the enclave. He called for an end to wars "with their horrific consequences in the form of innocent civilian casualties," Francis told several thousand pilgrims in St. Peter's Square. The desperate humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip must be corrected by opening it up to humanitarian aid supplies, he said. Since October 7, 2023, with the full support of Western countries, especially the United States and Britain, the Zionist regime began massacres in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank against the defenseless and oppressed people of Palestine. On October 7, 2023, Palestinian resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm from the Gaza Strip against Israeli regime positions, and finally, after 45 days of fighting (November 24, 2023), a four-day temporary ceasefire or "humanitarian pause" was established for exchange prisoners between Hamas and the Israeli regime. This pause in the war lasted seven days, and finally on Friday morning (December 1, 2023), the temporary ceasefire ended and the Israeli regime resumed attacks on the Gaza Strip in order to avenge the Al-Aqsa Storm, to recoup its defeat and stop resistance operations. The Zionist regime has closed all checkpoints in the Gaza Strip and continues to bomb the area. The Zionist regime has killed at least 20,674 Gazans and injured at least 54,536 since the Zionist regime's attacks on the Gaza Strip began, 70% of whom were women and children.