Pope Leo Meets Israeli President Amid Gaza Genocide, Sparking Backlash
Vatican City (Quds News Network)- Pope Leo's meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday sparked backlash amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Pope Leo discussed the "tragic situation in Gaza" during the meeting and called for a permanent ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, the Vatican said.
The pontiff also reiterated the Vatican's support for a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Herzog had earlier thanked Leo for the meeting in a post on X, and said he had received a warm welcome at the Vatican.
Leo, elected by the world's cardinals in May to replace the late Pope Francis, has in the past taken a more cautious tone than Francis when speaking about Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Francis, who had led the Church for 12 years, had become a frequent critic of Israel. He suggested a study into whether Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinian people.
The meeting has sparked backlash from pro-Palestine activists, who cited the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the international community’s failure to stop it. Since October 2023, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.
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Pope Leo XIV met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the Vatican yesterday.
Their meeting came as leaders of Gaza’s Christian community announced their decision to remain in Gaza City despite ongoing Israeli attacks. They warned that Israel’s forced displacement of civilians would amount to “nothing less than a death sentence,” as Israeli forces pushed deeper into the city amid plans to occupy it and forcibly displace one million people.
The Israeli president was also named in an international court of justice (ICJ) order in 2024 that called for provisional measures on Israel and said Palestinians in Gaza had “plausible rights to protection from genocide”, rights the court suggested were at a real risk of irreparable damage.
