ROME, Tuesday, July 09, 2024 (WAFA) – Pope Francis today prayed for “concrete solutions” to end the Israeli genocidal aggression on the Gaza Strip.

The Pontiff lamented the attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza and voiced his great sorrow about escalating violence in the Strip.

He expressed his hopes that “that concrete paths may soon be identified to bring an end” to the ongoing Israeli genocidal war.

Israel has proceeded with its genocidal offensive on the war-torn Strip in complete disregard of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered Israel in a legally binding decision to halt its military offensive in Rafah, which may violate its obligations under the Genocide Convention.

Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, killing at least 38,243 Palestinians and injuring over 88,033 others.

Moreover, at least 10,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

K.F.