The pontiff is ready to satisfy Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and ship a speech to authorities and diplomats later at present.
Pope Leo XIV has reiterated the Vatican’s insistence on a two-state decision for the Israeli-Palestinian battle, saying it’s the “solely answer” that may assure justice for either side.
Leo made the feedback as he flew from Turkiye to Lebanon on Sunday for the second and remaining leg of his maiden worldwide voyage as pope.
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On the flight, the pontiff was requested by reporters about his personal talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon his arrival in Ankara, and whether or not they mentioned the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Leo confirmed that they had and stated Turkiye has an “necessary position to play” to finish each conflicts.
On Gaza, he repeated the Holy See’s longstanding place supporting a two-state answer for Israel and the Palestinians. The creation of a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the occupied West Financial institution and Gaza has lengthy been seen internationally as the one option to resolve the decades-long battle.
“We all know that on this second, Israel doesn’t settle for this answer, however we see it as the one one that may provide an answer to the battle that they’re residing in,” stated Leo. “We’re additionally mates with Israel, and we strive with either side to be a mediating voice that may assist deliver them nearer to an answer with justice for all.”
The pope has averted any direct point out of Israel’s genocidal warfare on Gaza whereas in Turkiye.
There was no quick response from the workplace of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He has lengthy asserted that making a Palestinian state would reward the Palestinian group Hamas and finally result in a fair bigger Hamas-run state on Israel’s borders.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu stated Israel’s opposition to a Palestinian state has “not modified one bit” and isn’t threatened by exterior or inside stress. “I don’t want affirmations, tweets or lectures from anybody,” he stated.
‘Glimmer of hope’
The American pontiff landed in Beirut and is now set to satisfy Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, the Arab world’s solely Christian head of state, and ship a speech to authorities and diplomats on the presidential palace later within the afternoon.
“Many individuals are assembly him on the facet of the street in direction of the presidential palace and he’s anticipated to satisfy Lebanese officers. He’ll additionally maintain an enormous mass within the centre of Beirut, after which go to a number of cities throughout the nation,” reported Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem from the scene.
About 30 % of the inhabitants of Lebanon is Christian, whereas the overwhelming majority are Muslim, roughly half of whom belong to the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam.
Travelling overseas has turn out to be a serious a part of the trendy papacy, with popes looking for to satisfy native Catholics, unfold the religion, and conduct worldwide diplomacy.
‘For the sake of peace’
Lebanon’s numerous communities have additionally welcomed the papal journey with main Druze cleric Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna saying Lebanon “wants the glimmer of hope represented by this go to”.
Reinforcements from the Lebanese military and inside safety forces have been deployed to the airport earlier than Leo’s arrival.
His convoy will cross via Beirut’s southern suburbs, an space the place Hezbollah holds sway and the place the terrain was battered in final 12 months’s Israeli air strikes. Hezbollah’s Imam al-Mahdi Scouts are to carry a welcoming ceremony by the roadside because the convoy passes.
Leo’s schedule features a prayer on the web site of a 2020 explosion on the Beirut port that killed 200 folks and induced billions of {dollars} value of injury.
He can even lead an out of doors mass on the Beirut waterfront and go to a psychiatric hospital, one of many few psychological well being services in Lebanon, the place healthcare employees and residents are eagerly anticipating his arrival.
Leo is not going to journey to the south, the goal of Israeli assaults. Regardless of a United States-brokered ceasefire in November 2024, Israel continues to launch near-daily air strikes on southern Lebanon.
The pope “is coming to bless us and for the sake of peace”, stated Farah Saadeh, a Beirut resident. “We’ve got to attend and see what is going to occur after he leaves, and we hope nothing goes to occur after his departure,” Saadeh stated.
Earlier than Leo’s arrival, Hezbollah urged the pope to specific his “rejection of injustice and aggression” that the nation is being subjected to, a reference to the Israeli assaults.