VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo hopes that a plan to end the war in Gaza would soon reach the “desired results,” he said on Sunday after acknowledging the significant steps made in negotiations to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Speaking during his weekly Angelus prayer, the pontiff asked all relevant parties to commit to the peace process, emphasizing the urgent need to end the conflict and establish a “just and lasting peace.”
“In recent hours, amid the dramatic situation in the Middle East, some significant steps forward have been taken in the peace negotiations, which I hope will soon achieve the desired results,” the pope told faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
He also renewed calls for a permanent ceasefire in the nearly two-year conflict and the release of hostages held in Gaza.
Pope Leo, the first US pope, was elected by the world’s cardinals in May to replace the late Pope Francis and has been more cautious about speaking out against the Gaza conflict than his predecessor.
His role in advocating for peace in Gaza, however, has become more stark since Israel struck the territory’s only Catholic church in July. On Tuesday the pontiff praised US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza and expressed hope that the Palestinian militant group Hamas would endorse it.
Pope Leo hopes Gaza plan achieves ‘desired results’ soon
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Pope Leo hopes Gaza plan achieves ‘desired results’ soon
- Pontiff asks all relevant parties to commit to the peace process
Russia says captured Ukraine’s Siversk in key eastern region
- The Russian army in Ukraine is “confidently advancing along the entire front,” Putin said
- He said last month his troops were advancing on Siversk, home to around 11,000 residents
MOSCOW: Russia said Thursday its troops had seized full control of Siversk, a Ukrainian city in the eastern Donetsk region where fighting has intensified in recent weeks, though Ukraine denied the key settlement had been lost.
The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine and taking ground from outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces, with some of the fiercest battles taking place in Donetsk.
Russia’s military chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov, said Moscow’s forces had captured Siversk in a report to President Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting with army commanders.
The Russian army in Ukraine is “confidently advancing along the entire front,” Putin said, thanking the commanders and soldiers “for their combat work.”
Putin said last month his troops were advancing on Siversk, home to around 11,000 residents before the war, claiming that the Russian offensive was “practically impossible to hold back.”
The Ukrainian army’s eastern command denied Russian claims it had taken Siversk, saying that it “remains under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
“The enemy is trying to infiltrate Siversk in small groups, taking advantage of unfavorable weather conditions but most of these units are being destroyed on the approaches,” it added in a Facebook post.
Siversk is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the last two major cities still under Ukrainian control in the Donbas — an industrial and mining region in Moscow’s sights.
Moscow earlier this month said it had captured Pokrovsk, a former road and rail hub also in Donetsk, but Kyiv claims fighting in the city is still ongoing.
Putin has said that Moscow is ready to fight on to seize the rest of the land it claims in eastern Ukraine if Kyiv does not give it up as part of a peace deal.
Eastern Ukraine has been ravaged since Russia launched its assault in February 2022, with tens of thousands of people killed and millions forced to flee their homes.
