Pope Leo urges end to 'indiscriminate' use of force in Gaza
The attack on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City killed three people and injured several others, including the parish priest. Photos from the site showed damage to the church's roof near its main cross, with its stone facade scorched and windows shattered.
Addressing the faithful from Castel Gandolfo after his Angelus prayer, Pope Leo expressed his deep sorrow and named the victims of the strike.
"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, of indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population," he said. The pope appealed for "an immediate halt to the barbarity of the war" and for "a peaceful resolution of the conflict."
The pope later told journalists, ""We must encourage everyone to leave weapons behind, and to leave behind the money-making that is behind every war.'
The pope's remarks come amid mounting concern over civilian casualties in the region and growing calls for restraint from global leaders and humanitarian organizations.
Aside from the unprecedented death and destruction that has gripped Gaza for the past year and 9 months, people are now dying of hunger. 101 Palestinians, including eighty children, have died of starvation in recent days
Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), a branch of the International Red Cross, said people in the enclave are facing an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe" and warned the "situation is only getting worse."
"Since the closure of all crossings for more than four months, there has been no food, no clean water, medicine… getting into the Gaza Strip," Farsakh said in a video.
"This has resulted to a catastrophe where people are literally starving to death," she said.
"More people are being admitted to hospitals with malnutrition, especially among children, pregnant women and elderly," she added.
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Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. 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But some countries, including Iran, have said Israel should cease to exist and have funded groups like Hamas and Hezbollah to attack Israel. Israel says the Palestinian Authority has supported terrorists and has not clearly affirmed Israel's right to exist. It says Hamas poses an existential threat to the country. Those concerns intensified after the gruesome Hamas attack on Israel of Oct. 7, 2023, which saw the terror group and its affiliates kill 1,200 people. Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed 60,000 people, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry. Israel says its aim is to rout Hamas and force it to return the hostages it took in the Oct. 7 attack. Many family members of the hostages have argued that the Israeli government has other motives. Canada says Hamas can have no role in governing a State of Palestine. Canada and other nations have decried the spread of illegal settlements in the West Bank, where Israeli settlers have violently routed Palestinians from their homes — often with the support of the Israeli government. Why hasn't Canada recognized a Palestinian state already? For years, Ottawa suggested recognition would only come at the end of peace talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders. But last November, the Liberals said Canada's recognition might come sooner because of the spread of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the high death toll of Israel's bombardment in Gaza. In his announcement Wednesday, Carney said those factors, along with Hamas terrorism, have 'steadily and gravely eroded' the path toward a two-state solution. France vowed to recognize a Palestinian state last week, while the U.K. said it would be open to doing the same if Israel does not change its policies in Gaza. Ireland, Spain and Norway recognized Palestine in spring 2024. What did Carney announce? Prime Minister Carney said Wednesday that Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. That would mean Palestine would go from having a special representative office in Ottawa, as Taiwan does, to a full embassy. Carney said Canada's move is 'predicated on the Palestinian Authority's commitment to much-needed reforms, including … general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.' University of Ottawa international affairs professor Thomas Juneau said it's not clear how Canada is assessing whether the Palestinian Authority has done enough. 'That's the right approach, but the progress that Prime Minister Carney mentioned is extremely ambitious, and it's also fairly vague,' he said. 'What kind of indications of progress in that direction does Canada want to see?' Does that mean an election in Gaza? Canada is only asking the Palestinian Authority for an election, which would take place in the West Bank. Ottawa's aim is for the Palestinian Authority to eventually have the legitimacy and capacity it needs to govern both the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas violently ejected Fatah from Gaza in 2007 and said Thursday it 'will not recognize Israel.' Israeli government officials have discussed working with local clans as part of a possible governance structure in Gaza that excludes Hamas. Some of the clans have been implicated in gang activity in Gaza. What does Israel say? Israel says that recognizing a Palestinian state only rewards Hamas for its violence and will inspire further attacks. It argues its actions in Gaza have been distorted by the outside world, something it blames in part on propaganda from hostile states. While Israel insists it has met its obligations on humanitarian aid, U.S. President Donald Trump and most major global organizations say Israel has allowed starvation to take hold in Gaza. Israel says it's also concerned about the Palestinian Authority supporting those who have committed violent attacks against Israel. The Palestinian Authority's delegation in Ottawa has said it's up to Palestinians alone to decide how they are governed, and blames Israel for policies it says have driven people to take up arms. Why don't Palestinians move elsewhere? Many Palestinians use the word Nakba or 'catastrophe' to refer to the establishment of Israel and their dispossession. Millions of Palestinians fled decades ago to refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories. Israel rejects calling these people refugees, saying they can integrate into other Arab societies. Many Palestinians say they refuse to be moved off their land, even if they face dire living conditions in the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is governing in a coalition that relies on Jewish supremacist parties that have called for the displacement of Palestinians to other countries and the full annexation of the Palestinian territories. Trump at one point endorsed vacating Gaza in order to make the area the 'Riviera of the Middle East.' Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has called for placing the entire population of Gaza in one city — something former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert described as 'a concentration camp.' Egypt has constructed a large barrier on its border with the Gaza Strip — in part because of concerns about the proximity of terror groups like Hamas and in part to keep Palestinians from being forcibly displaced into Egypt. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2025.
