Pope: The war in the Gaza Strip has claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinians
Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, has said war itself is a crime against humanity, and the war in the Gaza Strip has already led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the destruction of areas inhabited by Palestinians.
After Sunday's Mass, the Pope said: "Let's not forget this, people need peace, the whole world needs peace." “Let us pray that those in power in conflicts will reflect on the fact that war is not their solution, because it spreads death among civilians and destroys cities and infrastructure,” the pope added. The war in the Gaza Strip has already led to the death of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the destruction of areas inhabited by Palestinians.
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 for 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 24000 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.
