“More than a million people are isolated,” Leo said, “and there are so many dead.”
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Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday renewed his call for an end to violence in the Middle East, while U.S. President Donald Trump announced the deployment of significant new forces to the region and delivered a 15-point peace plan to the leaders of Iran.
“I wish to renew the appeal for a ceasefire,” the pontiff told journalists gathered outside the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo.
“I urge all authorities to truly work through dialogue to resolve problems,” the pope said.
Leo called on leaders “to work for peace, but not with weapons—with dialogue, truly seeking a solution for everyone.”
“Hatred is increasing,” the pontiff said, “violence keeps getting worse.”
“More than a million people are isolated,” Leo said, “and there are so many dead.”
In Lebanon alone, where Israel continues a campaign with airstrikes and ground forces, as many as 4,000 people have been killed and at least a million people have been displaced – one in seven people in the country – creating a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions.
More than 4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Lebanon.
In Iran, where a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign of airstrikes has been underway for more than three weeks, thousands of people have been killed and injured – many of them civilians – and global energy supply has been severely disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane off Iran’s southern coast.
The Pentagon ordered about 2,000 soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to begin moving to the Middle East on Tuesday, a move apparently designed to afford Trump more military flexibility as the peace plan comes into diplomatic play.
Early reports concerning the terms of the peace plan said it was delivered to Iranian leadership by Pakistan, but those reports contained scant detail.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a brief statement on social media Tuesday evening, saying his country “stands ready and honored to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict.”
Pakistan shares a border with Iran, and like Iran, has a large Shiite Muslim population (though the vast majority of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni).
Pakistan has also cultivated a strategic and commercial relationship with Trump.
Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, has called repeatedly for a cease-fire.
