Pope Francis on Wednesday met separately with Israeli relatives of captives detained by Hamas and Palestinians with family in Gaza, saying the crisis had progressed beyond war to “terrorism.”
Francis claimed he heard directly how “both sides are suffering” in the war during his unscripted remarks at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square, just after the early morning discussions in his house.
“This is what wars do. But here, we have gone beyond wars. This is not a war. This is terrorism,” he said.
The Pope called for prayers so that both sides would “not go ahead with passions, which, in the end, kill everyone”.
Later that day, both groups held separate press conferences.
The discussions and the pope’s remarks came only hours after Israel’s government and Hamas agreed to a truce for at least four days, allow aid in, and free at least 50 hostages kidnapped by terrorists in exchange for at least 150 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Since the Hamas onslaught on Oct. 7, Israel has imposed a siege and continuous bombardment on Gaza, killing 1,200 Palestinians, largely civilians, according to Israeli estimates.
More than 13,000 Gazans have been murdered since then, with about 40% of them being minors, according to medical professionals in the Hamas-ruled region, according to data deemed reliable by the UN.
