From St. Peter’s Balcony, Pope Urges Immediate Halt to Gaza War, Hostage Release
Pope Francis, still recovering from pneumonia, made a brief Easter appearance on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday to deliver his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message—read aloud by an aide at doctors’ insistence—that again pleaded for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and urgent aid for “a starving people that aspires to a future of peace.”
The 88‑year‑old pontiff skipped presiding over Easter Mass but looked on as the service concluded. In the text, Francis called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “dramatic and deplorable,” denounced a “worrisome rise” in antisemitism, and expressed solidarity “with the sufferings of all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people.”
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His renewed appeal comes days after Hamas rejected Israel’s latest proposal for a short truce and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to intensify operations. The war, sparked by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 assault that killed 1,200 Israelis and seized 251 hostages, has left more than 51,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials.
Earlier in the morning, Francis held a brief Easter‑greeting encounter at the Vatican with visiting US Vice President JD Vance. The Vatican said the meeting lasted only a few minutes to exchange holiday wishes as the pope limits his schedule while convalescing.
