Pope Leo XIV calls for an end to Middle East violence

During his weekly address on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV appealed for an end to the fighting that has dominated the Holy Land for years. He urged both sides of the conflict to resume negotiations and find a just, political solution centered on equal dignity and equal rights. The pope also expressed his concern for the escalating violence across the wider Middle East, urging against further military action there. Without naming the United States or Iran, Leo urged all parties involved to suspend attacks and reopen paths of diplomacy to achieve regionwide peace. The address, which took place at the pope’s summer residence southeast of Rome, followed the traditional public recitation of the Catholic Angelus Prayer that the pope leads each Sunday.

Has there been renewed violence against Israelis? Leo’s petition came after two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed and several others were injured in a confrontation in the West Bank on Friday. According to an Israel Defense Forces account of the incident reported by The Jerusalem Post, a group of Israeli hikers illegally crossed into Palestinian territory and were leaving the outskirts of a village when a Palestinian man opened fire on the group. The Friday deaths followed less than a week after another attack where Kazakh Muslims in Mongolia reportedly assaulted six Israeli tourists at a campsite, according to the Post, citing Israeli broadcaster KAN News. The attackers wielded axes and knives, shouted “Heil Hitler,” and fractured one of the Israeli men’s jaws. Three former IDF servicemen in the group fought off the attackers long enough for the group to flee, the newspaper said. The Post and KAN News further reported that another group of Israeli tourists was attacked in Montenegro on July 11 by at least 10 young men who cursed at them, kicked them, and threw chairs at them.