Madonna urges Pope Leo to go to Gaza ‘before it is too late'
In a plea shared on her social media, the Like A Prayer singer, 66, said the pontiff is 'the only one of us who cannot be denied entry'.
It comes following a recent strike which killed a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent and four of his colleagues, who were sheltering outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday night.
The incident marked the first time during the war that Israel's military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike.
Madonna said: 'Most Holy Father, please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it's too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering.
'The children of the world belong to everyone.
'You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry.
'We need the humanitarian gates to be fully opened to save these innocent children.
'There is no more time. Please say you will go. Love, Madonna.'
In the caption of her post she said it was her son Rocco's birthday and that 'the best gift I can give to him as a Mother – is to ask everyone to do what they can to help save the innocent children caught in the crossfire in Gaza.'
She added: 'I am not pointing fingers, placing blame or taking sides. Everyone is suffering. Including the mothers of the hostages. I pray that they are released as well.'
The singer also asked for donations to three different organisations.
In July, Pope Leo, who became the first US head of the Catholic Church in May, renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, asking the international community to respect international laws and the obligation to protect civilians.
'I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,' he said.
In July, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to meet certain conditions, including addressing the humanitarian crisis, implementing a ceasefire and reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.
Earlier in the month he told Channel 5 that people have seen the 'images of starvation' in Gaza and added that 'the British public can see it and there's a sense of revulsion of what they're seeing'.
At the weekend, hundreds of people were arrested for supporting banned group Palestine Action at a protest in central London.
The Met confirmed on Sunday that 522 people were held for displaying an item in support of a proscribed organisation, out of 532 total arrests made during the policing operation.
The move to ban the organisation was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused around £7 million worth of damage.
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