Overview
- On Sunday the pope used his Angelus address at Castel Gandolfo to plead for an immediate halt to attacks and a return to negotiations to secure a just political solution for the Holy Land.
- He called explicitly for rejection of new military moves and unilateral decisions that alter the status quo of places sacred to multiple faiths and urged protection of holy sites.
- Israel deployed forces after a weekend of deadly settler violence that left four Palestinian villagers and two Israeli soldiers dead and detained more than 70 suspects across the West Bank.
- Israeli strikes have continued in Gaza almost daily despite a nine-month cease-fire, with a recent strike killing a senior police official, while U.S. strikes on Iran were reportedly put on hold after 13 nights that damaged water and power infrastructure and prompted retaliatory attacks.
- The pope highlighted urgent humanitarian harms — worsening shortages of drinking water and electricity and civilian displacement — and asked the faithful to pray for victims, including those of wildfires in southwestern Europe.