Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians, Pope Francis said in his Christmas message.
Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, the 87-year-old Francis called for an end to conflicts, political, social or military, in places including Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and he defended the rights of migrants around the world.
“How, many innocents are being slaughtered in our world! In their mothers’ wombs, in odysseys undertaken in desperation and in search of hope, in the lives of all those little ones whose childhood has been devastated by war. They are the little Jesuses of today,” he said.
“May it [peace] come in Israel and Palestine, where war is devastating the lives of those peoples. I embrace them all, particularly the Christian communities of Gaza and the entire Holy Land,” Francis said.
He called for more investigation of the armaments trade.
“It should be talked about and written about, to bring to light the interests and the profits that move the puppet strings of war,” he said.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, killing at least 20,424 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 54,036 others, according to local health authorities.
