Pope Leo XIV Again Calls for Talks for Peace in the Middle East

JAKARTA - The leader of the Catholic Church worldwide, Pope Leo XIV, on Sunday renewed his call for peace in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East during the Angelus Prayer in Castel Gandolfo, expressing deep concern over the increasing violence and calling for an immediate return to dialogue.

"I continue to follow with deep concern the ongoing and escalating violence in the Holy Land," the Pope said, noting "many civilians have recently fallen victim, both in the West Bank and in Gaza," reported WAFA (27/7).

Pope Leo further called for "a return to negotiations aimed at achieving a just political solution, based on the dignity and equal rights of every human being, and to reject further military action and unilateral decisions, especially those that violate the respect that should be given to and the status quo of the holy places of every religion."

"I urge all parties involved to suspend their attacks and immediately reopen the path of dialogue and diplomacy, so that the peace that the entire region so desires can be achieved without delay," Pope Leo said.

It is known that Israel continues to launch attacks in the Gaza Strip despite an agreed ceasefire in October last year, while violence by Israeli settlers supported by the occupation authorities in the occupied West Bank has also increased.

The number of deaths from Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 73,326, with 173,997 Palestinians injured, since October 7, 2023, according to medical sources in Gaza.

They added that the number of Palestinians killed since the ceasefire came into force on October 11 had reached 1,200, while the number of injured had risen to 3,888.

Meanwhile, the escalation increased in the Middle East, following the Israeli and US attacks on Tehran and a number of cities in Iran on February 28. It was retaliated with attacks on Israeli territory and US-related facilities in neighboring Middle Eastern countries, followed by tight control of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US-Iran agreed to a ceasefire in April, before later agreeing to a Memorandum of Understanding in June signed by President Donald Trump and President Masoud Pezeshkian, followed by the Lake Lucerne Summit in Switzerland three days later on June 21.

This month, the Uncle Sam and the Mullah's State are again attacking each other, related to the attack on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.