Pope Leo appeals for Israel to allow humanitarian aid in Gaza
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 19, 2025. REUTERS/ Mahmoud Issa
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday appealed for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, calling the situation in the Palestinian enclave "yet more worrying and saddening."
"I renew my fervent appeal to allow for the entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring to an end the hostilities, the devastating price of which is paid by children, the elderly and the sick," the pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected the leader of the Catholic Church on May 8 to succeed the late Pope Francis. He has mentioned the situation in Gaza several times in the first weeks of his papacy.
In his first Sunday message on May 11, the new pope called for an immediate ceasefire and for the release of all Israeli hostages held by militant group Hamas.
Israel said on Monday that it would allow aid to enter Gaza after an 11-week blockade on the enclave, but the United Nations said no help had been distributed as of Tuesday.
Leo's appeal comes a day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his government had paused free trade talks with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador to the UK over the situation in Gaza.
Israel says it plans to intensify military operations against Hamas and to control the whole of Gaza, which has been devastated by an Israeli air and ground war since Hamas' cross-border attack on Israeli communities in October 2023.
Israel has said its blockade is aimed in part at preventing Palestinian militants from diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied doing so. — Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
43 minutes ago
- GMA Network
North Korea hit by major internet outage, likely due to internal cause
SEOUL - North Korea's internet was hit by a major outage that lasted several hours on Saturday, knocking off connection to government web sites and official news services online and severing the reclusive country from cyberspace. It was not clear what caused the outage but it may have been internal rather than a cyberattack, as connections via China and Russia were affected, said researchers who monitor North Korea's internet and technology infrastructure. North Korea's main official news services, its Foreign Ministry, and the Air Koryo national airline were among websites inaccessible on Saturday, before they started coming back slowly around midday according to checks by Reuters. North Korea's entire internet infrastructure was not showing up on systems that can monitor internet activities, and email services were also affected, Junade Ali, a U.K.-based researcher who monitors the North Korean internet, said earlier. "Hard to say if this is intentional or accidental - but seems like this is internal rather than an attack." Officials at South Korea's cyber terror response center, a police division that monitors North Korea's cyber activities, could not be reached for comment. Martyn Williams, who specializes in North Korea's technology and infrastructure at the Washington-based Stimson Center, also said the cause appeared to be internal as the Chinese and Russian connections were not working. North Korea has one of the world's most strictly controlled internet systems, including access to any form of online communication. The general public has access only to an intranet set up by the government and that is not connected to the wider global network. An elite few in the government and leadership are allowed open internet access, and government and news websites often serve up propaganda for outside audiences. North Korea has in previous years experienced large internet outages suspected as being caused by cyberattacks. The country operates elite teams of hackers, including a group known as Lazarus run by the government intelligence apparatus, that are blamed for attacks against foreign institutions and companies and more recently for theft and the laundering of cryptocurrencies. North Korea denies involvement in hacking, crypto thefts and other cybercrime. — Reuters
GMA Network
15 hours ago
- GMA Network
Trump says China's Xi agreed to let rare earth minerals flow to US
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to let rare earth minerals and magnets flow to the United States, a move that could lower tensions between the world's biggest economies. Asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One whether Xi had agreed to do so, Trump replied: "Yes, he did." The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump's comment came one day after a rare call with Xi aimed at resolving trade tensions that have been brewing over the topic for weeks. At that time, Trump said there had been "a very positive conclusion" to the talks, adding that "there should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products." In another sign of easing tensions over the issue, China has granted temporary export licenses to rare-earth suppliers of the top three U.S. automakers, two sources familiar with the matter said. The U.S. president's top aides are set to meet their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday for further talks. "We're very far advanced on the China deal," Trump told reporters on Friday. The countries struck an agreement on May 12 in Geneva, Switzerland, to roll back for 90 days most of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump's January inauguration. Financial markets that had worried about trade disruptions rallied on the news. But China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets has continued to disrupt supplies needed by automakers, computer chip manufacturers and military contractors around the world. Trump had accused China of violating the Geneva agreement and ordered curbs on chip-design software and other shipments to China. Beijing rejected the claim and threatened counter measures. Rare earths and other critical minerals are a source of leverage for China as Trump could come under domestic political pressure if economic growth sags because companies cannot make mineral-powered products. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly threatened an array of punitive measures on trading partners, only to revoke some of them at the last minute. The on-again, off-again approach has baffled world leaders and spooked business executives. —Reuters
GMA Network
19 hours ago
- GMA Network
Six killed, 80 wounded in intense Russian air attacks on Ukraine
Bodies of rescuers killed in a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, lie on the ground at the site of the strike, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko KYIV - Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early hours of Friday, killing at least six people, Ukrainian officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the country. The attacks followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via US President Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said three emergency responders were killed in the missile and drone salvo against the capital. Two died in an attack on the northern city of Chernihiv and at least one more in the northwestern city of Lutsk. "Those killed in Kyiv were rescue workers who arrived at the scene of an initial strike and, unfortunately, were killed in a repeat Russian strike," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing on X, said Russia had "'responded' to its destroyed aircraft... by attacking civilians in Ukraine.... Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged." Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had carried out the strike on military and military-related targets in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia. "They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, when asked about how Ukraine's earlier drone strikes had affected the conflict. Zelenskiy said 80 people nationwide had been injured in the attacks, which also struck several other towns and cities. He said residents could still be trapped under rubble. In Chernihiv, the national emergency services said two bodies were recovered from the rubble of a wrecked industrial enterprise. In Lutsk, the body of a man was found in the ruins of an apartment block, while emergency crews kept searching for his wife. Thirty people were hurt in the city, where educational institutions and a government building were also hit. Russian forces also struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, Mayor Serhii Nadal said. The regional administration said the attack had injured 10 people and asked residents to temporarily stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire. The air force said Russia had used 407 drones, one of the largest numbers recorded in a single attack. It said 45 cruise and ballistic missiles were also fired. Attacks hit Kyiv transport system Kyiv's metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, the military administration said. The state rail company said it was also diverting some trains due to rail damage outside the city. Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites. Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks. In the capital's Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of an apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said. Falling concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone's engine. Earlier in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft batteries. Zelenskiy called for concerted pressure on Russia. "If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives – that is complicity and accountability. We must act decisively," he wrote on X. The Ukrainian military said it had launched a pre-emptive strike overnight on the Engels and Dyagilevo airfields in the Russian regions of Saratov and Ryazan, in addition to striking at least three fuel reservoirs. In one of the most audacious attacks of the three-year-old war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia's strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds. After a phone conversation with Putin on Wednesday, Trump said the Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on the Russian air bases. —Reuters
