Pope Leo XIV has appealed for Israel to resume allowing humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip after weeks of a blockade.
During his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square, the Pontiff called the situation in the Palestinian territory “yet more worrying and saddening.”
“I renew my appeal to allow for the entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring to an end the hostilities, the high price of which is paid by children, the elderly and the sick.”
Pope Leo XIV
In his first Sunday message on May 11, 2025, the new Pope called for an immediate ceasefire and for the release of all Israeli hostages held by militant group, Hamas.
Israel said that 93 trucks of aid – a fraction of what is needed – had entered Gaza from Israel on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, but the UN said none of that aid had actually reached Palestinians.
UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric said that although the aid had entered Gaza, aid workers were not able to bring it to distribution points where it is most needed, after the Israeli military forced them to reload the supplies on to separate trucks and workers ran out of time.
The UN announced on Monday, May 19, 2025, that it had been cleared to send in aid for the first time since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2, 2025, sparking severe shortages of food and medicine.
UN-backed experts said last week Gaza was at “a critical risk of famine.”
Also, Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong released a statement saying that the Israeli Government cannot allow “the suffering to continue” after the UN’s aid chief said that thousands of babies are at risk of dying if they do not receive food imminently.
“Australia joins international partners in calling on Israel to allow a full and immediate resumption of aid to Gaza. We condemn the abhorrent and outrageous comments made by members of the Netanyahu Government about these people in crisis.”
Penny Wong
Wong stopped short of outlining any measures Australia might take to encourage Israel to ensure enough aid reaches those in need, as the UK, France and Canada said they would do, in a recent joint statement.
Israel Accused Of Using Aid Supply As A ‘Smokescreen’ To Claim Gaza Seige Is Lifted
According to medical charity, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, the amount of aid Israel has started to allow into the Gaza Strip is not nearly enough and instead is “a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over.”
Pascale Coissard, MSF’s Emergency Coordinator in Gaza’s Khan Younis said, “The Israeli authorities’ decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving.”
State news agency reported overnight that an agreement was reached in a phone call between UAE Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar.
According to the news agency, Israel had agreed to let in humanitarian aid that would supply 15,000 people.
The population of Gaza was estimated to be about two million before Israel’s military campaign began.
Meanwhile, UNRWA spokesperson Louise Wateridge says the agency has enough food in one of its warehouses in Jordan to feed “200,000 people alone for an entire month.”
Wateridge said in a video taken at the warehouse, just a few hours’ drive from Gaza, “It’s been sitting here for weeks on end, ready to enter the Gaza Strip,” She stressed, “We need this aid to enter now,” adding that it has to go to people who are desperate.
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