Pope Francis said this Sunday that disarmament is a “moral duty” and called for “safe access” to humanitarian aid for the people of the Gaza Strip.
In his message after Sunday’s Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Francis recalled that the United Nations marks the International Day of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation on Tuesday and asked the international community to show courage and create an atmosphere of trust and pacification in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine.
“How many resources are spent on military expenditures, which, unfortunately, continue to increase due to the current situation! I really hope that the international community understands that disarmament is a moral duty,” the Pope said from the window of the Apostolic Palace.
Francisco reiterated the situation in the Gaza Strip following Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack, where civilians are at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations (UN).
“Every day, I painfully carry in my heart the suffering of the people of Palestine and Israel as a result of the ongoing fighting,” he said, adding: “I call for the continuation of negotiations for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and throughout the region so that all hostages [israelitas] could be released and returned to their eagerly awaiting families, and that the civilian population [de Gaza] will be able to safely access the humanitarian assistance they desperately need.”
Addressing hundreds of faithful who listened to him in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said that “courage is required from all members of the great family of nations to move from a balance of fear to a balance of trust.”
“The suffering of the people in Palestine and Israel as a result of military action is a daily and painful experience in my heart. Thousands are dead, injured and displaced, the enormous destruction is painful and it has enormous consequences for the small and defenseless who see their future at risk,” he condemned, asking: “I wonder if they really intend to build a better world in this way, whether they really intend to achieve peace. Please stop. Let’s all say it together.”
Francis called on the parties and participants in the war to continue negotiations for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and throughout the region, the release of hostages and providing civilians with access to “urgent” humanitarian assistance.
The pontiff also remembered the “tortured” Ukraine, where, in his words, “every day many people die and there is a lot of pain.”
Representatives of Hamas, Qatar and the United States will meet this Sunday in Cairo to “start a new round of negotiations” with the aim of achieving a truce in the Gaza Strip, reports the Egyptian pro-government channel Al-Kahera.
According to data released this Sunday by the Ministry of Health, in almost five months, Israeli military operations have led to the deaths of 30,410 people in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians.
The war was sparked by an unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos in southern Israel on October 7 that killed at least 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally by the French news agency AFP based on Israeli officials.
Some 250 people were also kidnapped, and Israel said 130 hostages were still being held in the Gaza Strip, 31 of whom were killed. A truce concluded at the end of November allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian detainees.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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