Ahmet Gencturk
18 July 2025•Update: 19 July 2025
ATHENS
Decrying the “dramatic humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Pope Leo on Friday spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
In a phone call, Leo “renewed his appeal for a revival of negotiations and the achievement of a ceasefire and an end to the war,” said the Vatican Press Office in a statement.
Moreover, it added, Pope Leo "once again expressed his concern over the dramatic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, whose heartbreaking toll is being borne particularly by children, the elderly, and the sick."
The pontiff also reiterated the urgency of protecting places of worship.
On Thursday, Israeli forces attacked the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza, the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people and injuring several others.
In its months-long deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has bombed several places of worship, including the Gaza Baptist Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest in the Gaza Strip and the third-oldest in the world.
The Holy Family Church has been sheltering many displaced Christian and Muslim Palestinians since October 2023, when Israel’s relentless offensive began.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
