VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis called Sunday for an “immediate” end to Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, and for the resumption of dialogue for the release of hostages and a “definitive ceasefire”.
“I am saddened by the resumption of the intense Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, with so many deaths and injuries”, Francis wrote in his Angelus prayer, which was published Sunday as the 88-year-old was being discharged from more than five weeks in hospital.
“I ask that the weapons be silenced immediately and that the courage be found to resume dialogue so that all the hostages can be freed and a definitive ceasefire reached”, said Francis, who was set to return to the Vatican on Sunday.
“The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is once again very serious and requires the urgent commitment of the conflicting parties and the international community”, he said.
Israeli strikes kill 30 in Gaza
Israeli airstrikes across the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 30 Palestinians on Sunday, including a senior Hamas political leader, as the military intensified its offensive in Rafah and Khan Younis.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing medical sources, reported that dozens of civilians were killed in a series of airstrikes, with the death toll rising throughout the day.
Two hospitals in southern Gaza said they had received 17 bodies from overnight strikes, including several women and children.
The European Hospital in Khan Younis confirmed that five children and their parents were killed in one strike, while another family—two girls and their parents—perished in a separate attack.
The Kuwaiti Hospital reported receiving the bodies of a woman and a child from another airstrike.
Israel orders Rafah residents to evacuate
As Israeli forces continued their offensive, the military issued evacuation orders for residents in Rafah’s Tal Al-Sultan district, urging them to move north to al-Mawasi.
Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X (formerly Twitter) that the operation aimed to “strike the organisations” in the area.
Drones also dropped leaflets in Tal Al-Sultan, reinforcing the evacuation order, AFP reported. However, Wafa highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in al-Mawasi, describing it as lacking essential infrastructure, clean water, and basic services.
Palestinian media reported multiple Israeli strikes targeting vehicles, homes, and displaced people in Rafah and Khan Younis.
Three Palestinians were killed east of Khan Younis, while an Israeli drone strike in the Al-Nasr neighbourhood of northern Rafah killed another person. Two others died when Israeli forces targeted displaced families in Tal Al-Sultan.
Meanwhile, Israeli artillery continued shelling farmland in the Abu Safiya area, east of Jabalia, and other locations in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
Ceasefire collapse
The recent escalation follows the collapse of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The truce, which began in January, temporarily halted Israeli bombardments after 15 months of war triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
During the ceasefire, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
However, Israel resumed military operations last week after negotiations for a long-term truce failed.
The health ministry in Gaza said Sunday that at least 50,021 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel launched the military campaign in October 2023.
“The toll for the Israeli aggression has reached 50,021 martyrs and 113,274 wounded since October 7, 2023”, a ministry statement said.
With Gaza’s infrastructure in ruins and severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, the humanitarian situation remains dire.
The war has displaced nearly 90% of Gaza’s population, while international calls for a renewed ceasefire continue to grow.
