"The Scene of Crying Mothers and Children in Gaza is Heartbreaking" – Pope Leo Provost

"The Scene of Crying Mothers and Children in Gaza is Heartbreaking" – Pope Leo Provost
[Vatican City, May 28, 2025] — (Reuters Report)

Pope Leo on Wednesday called for a ceasefire in Gaza and urged both Israel and Hamas to fully comply with international humanitarian law.

“In the Gaza Strip, the heartbreaking cries of mothers and fathers are rising ever more strongly to heaven—parents clinging to the bodies of their dead children,” Pope Leo said during his weekly general audience at St. Peter’s Square.

“To those responsible, I appeal once more: stop the war,” he continued. “Release all hostages. Fully respect human rights law.”

Pope Leo, who succeeded the late Pope Francis on May 8, also called for an end to the war in Ukraine.
“I say again, forcefully: stop the war and support every initiative for dialogue and peace,” he added.

He condemned recent attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure, which came after Russia launched its largest airstrike in the three-year war. These two statements in Italian were brief remarks added at the end of his general address.

On Tuesday, after 11 weeks of Israeli blockade, thousands of Palestinians crowded into a Gaza aid distribution center. Israel had imposed the blockade in March, claiming Hamas was confiscating aid meant for civilians—a charge Hamas denies.

The late Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, had increasingly criticized Israel’s military operations in Gaza during his final months.

Pope Leo, who will complete his third week in the papacy on Thursday, has already spoken out multiple times about the conflict. In his first general audience, he called on Israel to allow greater humanitarian access into Gaza.

On Wednesday, the pope said, “In Gaza, parents are constantly running in search of a bit of food and a little shelter from the bombings.”

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza.

Israel's counteroffensive has, so far, killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and reduced much of the densely populated territory to rubble.