“Never again war,” Pope Leo XIV exclaimed during his first Sunday address to an estimated 100,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square. The new pontiff called for an “authentic, just and lasting peace” in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Leo, continuing in the advocacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis, advocated for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Palestine and delivered “to the exhausted civilian population,” adding that “all hostages” held by Hamas in Gaza must be freed.
“In today’s dramatic scenario of a third world war being fought piecemeal, as Pope Francis said, I too turn to the world’s leaders with an ever timely appeal: never again war!” Leo—who in the past has critiqued President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on social media—told the crowd.
Leo’s message comes as Trump embarks this week on his first foreign trip of his second administration, with a tour of the Middle East. The president is expected to focus his trip to the region on business deals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. While Trump isn’t currently expected to visit Israel, much of his trip is poised to be about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued war in Palestine and the United States’ involvement. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth canceled his trip to Israel, slated for Monday, to join Trump on Air Force One, according to reporting from Axios based on three Israeli and US officials.
A United Nations special committee accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” on Friday and held that it was inflicting “unimaginable suffering” on Palestinians, and warned that the world could be witnessing “another Nakba,” or the expulsion of Palestinians from their land through violent means.
Over a 24-hour period, at least 23 Palestinians were killed and 124 others injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the weekend, according to reporting from Al Jazeera based on numbers from the local Ministry of Health.
Israel’s latest attacks on Gaza come as humanitarian aid and supplies have not entered the area for over nine weeks, per the UN. “This is having a devastating impact on the population,” a UNRWA Situation Report reads, “particularly on vulnerable groups including children, women, and the elderly.” Over 60,000 people have been killed by the Israeli military operations in Palestine since October 2023, and more than 111,000 injured, according to Al Jazeera—though the total number of casualties is expected to be much larger.
