VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV called Sunday for “courage” from those forging a peace plan for Gaza, as world leaders prepared to attend a summit on ending the conflict.
“The agreement to begin the peace process has given a spark of hope in the Holy Land,” the US-born pontiff said at the end of Sunday’s Angelus prayer.
“I encourage the parties involved to courageously continue on the path toward a just and lasting peace that respects the legitimate aspirations of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples,” he said.
US President Donald Trump and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will on Monday chair a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh which aims to end the war in the Gaza Strip.
International leaders will discuss implementing the first phase of a ceasefire, two years after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack triggered a counter-offensive by Israel that killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.
