Pope repeats call for access to humanitarian aid, cease-fire in Gaza

Pope Francis on Sunday repeated his call for ensuring access to humanitarian aid and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where the population is facing famine after nearly six months of Israeli attacks, Vatican News reported.

Delivering his Easter message following the Easter Sunday Mass to tens of thousands of Catholic pilgrims in Vatican’s St. Peter Square, Francis said: “I appeal once again that access to humanitarian aid be ensured to Gaza and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on 7 October for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”

Stressing that the ongoing conflict is taking a heavy toll on the civilian population, particularly children, he added: “How much suffering we see in their eyes! With those eyes, they ask us: Why? Why all this death? Why all this destruction?”

“War is always a defeat and an absurdity,” the pontiff said.

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