Pope condemns Gaza war's 'barbarity' as 73 reported killed while waiting for food

Pontiff also speaks of anguish over Israeli strike on territory’s only Catholic church, which killed three people

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/20/pope-condemns-barbarity-of-israel-war-gaza



Pope Leo XIV has condemned the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza and the “indiscriminate use of force” as Gaza’s health ministry said at least 73 Palestinians had been killed queueing for food. The ministry said on Sunday that the victims had been killed in different locations, mostly in northern Gaza. It said 67 of the dead had been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks entering through the northern Zikim crossing with Israel.

Separately, the director of al-Shifa hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told Associated Press that since Sunday morning the hospital had received 48 people who were killed and 150 wounded while seeking aid from lorries expected to enter Gaza at the Zikim crossing. He could not say whether the dead had been killed by the Israeli army, armed gangs or both.

Israel’s military said soldiers had shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who it claimed posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found. There was new alarm as Israel’s military issued evacuation orders for areas of central Gaza, one of the few areas where it has rarely operated with ground troops and where many international organisations attempting to distribute aid are located.



Before these reports emerged, the pope called for “an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict” at the end of the Angelus prayer at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence near Rome. The pope also spoke of his anguish over the Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church last week, which killed three people and injured 10. Among the injured was the parish priest, who used to receive daily calls from the late Pope Francis.

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