On the morning of July 21, 2025, Pope Leo XIV received a telephone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Three days after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Pope discussed with the Palestinian leader the “recent developments in the conflict in the Gaza Strip” and “violence in the West Bank,” according to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office.
The two leaders spoke three days after Leo XIV's phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, focusing on suffering of civilians.
This takes place against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza and heightened tensions in the West Bank, particularly around the Christian village of Taybeh, which has been subjected to attacks by Israeli settlers.
The Pope took the opportunity to renew his call for “international humanitarian law to be fully respected.”
Four days after an Israeli strike that killed three people at the Catholic parish in Gaza, Leo XIV again stressed the obligation to “protect civilians and sacred places” and “the prohibition of the indiscriminate use of force and the forced transfer of the population.”
Urgent need for aid
The two leaders discussed the “tragic humanitarian situation” resulting from the war in Gaza. The conflict has reportedly caused around 60,000 direct deaths, as well as thousands more victims due to shortages, particularly food. Several hundred people have also died in recent weeks in shootings at the few food aid distribution points.
The Pope and the 90-year-old Palestinian leader stressed “the urgent need to provide assistance to those most vulnerable to the consequences of the conflict and to allow the adequate entry of humanitarian aid.”
The two leaders also referred to the 10th anniversary of the Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine, signed on June 26, 2015, and which entered into force on January 2, 2016. This text, which followed the formal recognition of the State of Palestine by the Holy See, aimed in particular to clarify the legal status of Catholic institutions located in Palestinian territory, particularly in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ.
Frequent meetings with Pope Francis
Leo XIV and Mahmoud Abbas have not yet met, but the Palestinian leader visited Pope Francis several times. In particular, he took part in a peace ceremony held in the Vatican Gardens on June 8, 2014, with his Israeli counterpart at the time, Shimon Peres, two weeks after the Argentine pontiff's visit to the Holy Land.
Pope Leo's conversation with Mahmoud Abbas took place three days after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which Leo XIV called for a ceasefire. On Sunday, after the Angelus prayer held at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope appealed for peace in the Holy Land, urging an end to “the barbarity of war.”
