Pope Leo XIV spoke out Wednesday specifically against the “increasingly worrying” humanitarian crisis in Gaza, elevating his call for Israel to allow “dignified” aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory and to end the violence that has disproportionately affected vulnerable groups like children.
The pontiff’s statement to tens of thousands of people in Vatican City comes on the heels of Israel beginning to allow a trickle of aid to enter the enclave it has been pummeling for 19 months, after a nearly three-month blockade on all humanitarian assistance. Experts say the new aid deliveries are nowhere near enough, and that they have yet to be distributed to Palestinians.
“The situation in the Gaza Strip is increasingly worrying and painful,” Leo said during the first general audience of his pontificate. “I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid and to bring an end to the hostilities, whose heartbreaking price is paid by children, the elderly and the sick.”
Spokespersons for both the Israel Defense Forces and for COGAT, the defense branch overseeing aid logistics, declined to comment on Leo’s remarks.
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Leo’s comments are in line with his stated position on global conflict, having called for an end to all wars during his first Sunday blessing as the pope earlier this month. He has also closely identified with his progressive predecessor, the late Pope Francis, who also gained a reputation for speaking out against specific conflicts and in defense of vulnerable groups like immigrants and children.
“I think of the people in Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation,” Francis said in his Easter address, just one day before his death. “I appeal to the warring parties: Call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!”
Israeli forces faced increasing backlash for enacting a total blockade on all aid into Gaza in March while continuing to bomb the territory, including hospitals and schools. The blockade exacerbated Gaza’s existing hunger crisis, with food security experts recently finding that 1 in 5 Palestinians in the territory are considered starving. The lack of access to food puts children, in particular, at higher risk of severe acute malnutrition.
Leo’s comments come as Israeli forces launched a wider bombing campaign in Gaza, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an effort to “take control” of the territory. The military only began allowing limited aid in as a response to pressure from allies and the international community, with Netanyahu describing it as just a bridge until Israel and the U.S. launch their military-run aid distribution system that most of the international community has denounced as unethical.
