Vatican City, Vatican.- Pope Francis called on Israel and the Palestinians to dialogue in search of peace, and regretted the recent violence in the region.
After the Angelus prayer in Rome, the pontiff said he had been deeply saddened by the news about Palestinians killed during Israeli anti-terror operations, as well as the death of Israeli Jews in a shooting at a synagogue on Friday.
“It is with great pain that I learn of the news coming from the Holy Land… The spiral of death that grows every day does nothing but kill the little trust that exists between these two peoples,” he said.
“I call on the two governments and the international community, and ask them to find immediately, without wasting time, other ways that include dialogue and the sincere search for peace.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday promised a “firm, swift and precise” response to the attack on the synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem, while his army sent more troops to the occupied West Bank.
The Jerusalem attack followed an Israeli raid on Thursday in the West Bank city of Jenin, which killed nine Palestinians, including seven gunmen, and Friday’s cross-border fire between Israel and Gaza.
At least 30 Palestinians – militants and civilians – have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the month.
