Vatican:

In a telephone conversation on Thursday, Pope Francis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the dramatic situation in the Holy Land. The Pope expressed his sorrow for what was happening and recalled the Holy See's position, voicing his hopes that a two-state solution and a special statute for the city of Jerusalem could be reached.

The Holy Father was informed by the Turkish administration that the President was deeply concerned about the situation in Gaza. On October 22, Pope Francis spent roughly twenty minutes discussing global conflict scenarios and the need to find pathways to peace with US President Joe Biden.

Elsewhere speaking about the violence ravaging the Holy Land at the UN Security Council in New York, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See, urged Israeli and Palestinian authorities to show courage for peace by pledging to work towards the two-state solution.

It strongly resonated with the words of Pope Francis urging peace and an end to violence in the Holy Land during the Sunday, October 22, Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square. The archbishop highlighted the alarming increase in violence, which is causing deplorable levels of suffering for people. He also reiterated the fact that "war is always a defeat" for humanity since it hinders the human family's innate vocation to fraternity.

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia focused on three issues. First, he announced the Holy See's unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist attack against the Israeli people on October 7 that was carried out by Hamas and other armed groups.

He said these crimes demonstrate utter contempt for human life and are unjustifiable, saying that as Pope Francis clearly stated, terrorism and extremism fuel hatred, violence, and revenge and only cause mutual suffering.

Thus, Archbishop Caccia renewed the demand, which Pope Francis reaffirmed during his General Audience, for the immediate release of all 222 Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza. So far, Hamas has only set free four American hostages.

The Apostolic Nuncio's second main point was that terrorist acts' criminal guilt can never be attributed to an entire nation or people. He said that the right to self-defense in any conflict must always abide by international humanitarian law, particularly the proportionality criterion.

Finally, Archbishop Caccia expressed the Holy See's deep concern for the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza, which has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. He thus demanded the facilitation and the continuation of humanitarian corridors for supplies to reach every Gazan.

The Apostolic Nuncio called on the governments of Israel and Palestine to demonstrate audacity to renew their commitment towards a peace based on justice and respect for the legitimate aspirations of both sides as he wrapped off his intervention.

The Holy See remains convinced that the two-state solution still offers hope for such a peace," he reiterated. Meanwhile, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the peace envoy for Pope Francis, has referred to Hamas as the worst enemy of the Palestinian people.

On October 26, at the sidelines of a meeting in northern Italy, the bishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Bishops' meeting declared, “We need an authoritative Palestinian leadership; we need a solution that guarantees the rights of the two sides.”

The cardinal stated that the root causes of the conflict in Israel and Palestine must be understood to resolve the crisis.