Pope Leo laments deaths of children in Gaza

VATICAN CITY - Pope Leo appealed on Wednesday for a ceasefire in Gaza and called on Israel and Hamas militants to completely respect international humanitarian law.

"In the Gaza Strip, the intense cries are reaching Heaven more and more from mothers and fathers who hold tightly to the bodies of their dead children," the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

"To those responsible, I renew my appeal: stop the fighting," said the pope. "Liberate all the hostages. Completely respect humanitarian law."

Leo, elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, also appealed for an end to the war in Ukraine.

The pope decried new attacks against civilians and infrastructure in Ukraine in the days since Russia launched the biggest aerial attack of the three-year war.

"I renew with vigour my appeal to stop the war and to support every initiative of dialogue and peace," said Leo.

The pope's two appeals, made in Italian, came at the end of his audience, when he added some brief comments to his prepared text.

Thousands of Palestinians rushed an aid distribution site in Gaza on Tuesday, after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the war-devastated enclave. Israel imposed the blockade on aid supplies in March, accusing Hamas of seizing supplies meant for civilians, a charge Hamas denies.

Francis, who died on April 21, had been ramping up criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza in the months before his death.

Leo, who celebrates three weeks as pope on Thursday, has now mentioned the conflict several times. In his first general audience, held last week, he called on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

On Wednesday, the pope also said parents in the enclave "are continuously forced to search for a bit of food and a place safer from the bombing."

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.

Its assault has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and reduced much of the crowded coastal enclave to rubble.