LONDON: Madonna has urged the pope to travel to Gaza and “bring your light to the children before it’s too late.”
The superstar posted her appeal to the pontiff on social media Monday, saying her son Rocco’s birthday prompted her to make the post. Rocco turned 25 Monday.
Addressing Pope Leo XIV, she wrote: “Most Holy Father. Please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it’s too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering.
“The children of the world belong to everyone. You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry,” she added. “We need the humanitarian gates to be fully opened to save these innocent children. There is no more time. Please say you will go. Love, Madonna.”
The singer added that she wasn’t taking sides in the war.
“I am not pointing fingers, placing blame or taking sides. Everyone is suffering. Including the mothers of the hostages,” she wrote. “I pray that they are released as well. I am merely trying to do what I can to keep these children from dying of starvation.”
The pope recently renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, asking the international community to respect humanitarian laws and the obligation to protect civilians.
“I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” the pontiff said last month.
Aid workers and doctors have said that after months of Israeli blockade and turmoil in the distribution of supplies, children in Gaza with no previous conditions are starting to die from malnutrition.
Israel’s air and ground offensive, sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel, has displaced most of the some 2 million Palestinians in Gaza and pushed the territory toward famine.
The United Nations said that across Gaza, more than 5,000 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in May, though that is likely an undercount. Malnutrition was virtually nonexistent before the war. Doctors struggle to treat the children because many supplies have run out, the UN says.
Israel denies a famine is taking place or that children are starving. It says it has supplied enough food throughout the war and accuses Hamas of causing shortages by stealing aid and trying to control food distribution.
Madonna urges the pope to visit Gaza ‘before it’s too late’
https://arab.news/9w9uu
Madonna urges the pope to visit Gaza ‘before it’s too late’
- The superstar posted her appeal to the pontiff on social media Monday
- Madonna added that she wasn’t taking sides in the Israel-Hamas war
Putin and Trump discuss Iran and Ukraine wars: Kremlin
- Putin and Trump held a one-hour call in their first talks since December
MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on Monday discussed the Iran war and Ukraine conflict during a “frank and constructive” telephone call, the Kremlin said.
Putin and Trump held a one-hour call in their first talks since December and Washington sought the discussion, Putin’s diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
“The accent was placed on the situation surrounding the conflict with Iran and the bilateral negotiations underway with the representatives of the United States on settling the Ukrainian question,” Ushakov said.
Ushakov said Putin called for a “quick political and diplomatic settlement” to the US-Israeli war against Iran, which has been a key ally for Russia.
The Russian leader also gave Trump “a description of the current situation on the line of contact where Russian troops are progressing with a lot of success,” he added, referring to the Ukraine war.
Putin “positively evaluated the mediation efforts undertaken” by Trump in the Ukraine conflict, the adviser said. A series of talks have been held between Russian and US officials and between Russian, US and Ukrainian officials, but with no breakthrough in efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Ushakov said Washington had wanted to “discuss a series of extremely important questions linked to the current international situation.”
“The conversation was serious and constructive,” he added.
Trump and Putin held a summit in Alaska in August last year.
