Pope Leo XIV renews appeal for Gaza ceasefire.Italy's deputy premier and foreign minister Antonio Tajani has said that Israel must stop bombing Gaza due to the devastating toll it is having on Palestinian civilians."The legitimate reaction of the Israeli government to a terrible, senseless act of terrorism is taking on dramatic, absolutely unacceptable forms" - Tajani told the Italian parliament on Wednesday - "The bombing must end, humanitarian assistance must resume as soon as possible, respect for international humanitarian law must be restored." Tajani said the people in Gaza have "been paying a very high price for too long," citing Pope Leo XIV who said "the children, the elderly, the sick" were particularly suffering. Tajani also stated: "The expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is not, and will never be, an acceptable option". Italian cities display white sheets to show solidarity with Gaza During his general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday morning, Pope Leo XIV appealed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, along with the liberation of all hostages, and called for humanitarian law to be respected fully. “From the Gaza Strip, we hear rising ever more insistently to the heavens, the cries of mothers and fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of their children, and who are continually forced to move about in search of a little food and water and safer shelter from bombings", the pontiff said. Leo XIV, who also called for an end to the war in Ukraine, last week appealed for humanitarian aid to be let into Gaza and for an end to hostilities in the Palestinian enclave whose situation he described as "increasingly worrying and painful". Image: Antonio Tajani. Photo credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com.

Italy's deputy premier and foreign minister Antonio Tajani has said that Israel must stop bombing Gaza due to the devastating toll it is having on Palestinian civilians. "The legitimate reaction of the Israeli government to a terrible, senseless act of terrorism is taking on dramatic, absolutely unacceptable forms" - Tajani told the Italian parliament on Wednesday - "The bombing must end, humanitarian assistance must resume as soon as possible, respect for international humanitarian law must be restored." Tajani said the people in Gaza have "been paying a very high price for too long," citing Pope Leo XIV who said "the children, the elderly, the sick" were particularly suffering. Tajani also stated: "The expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza is not, and will never be, an acceptable option".

• Italian cities display white sheets to show solidarity with Gaza

During his general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday morning, Pope Leo XIV appealed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, along with the liberation of all hostages, and called for humanitarian law to be respected fully. “From the Gaza Strip, we hear rising ever more insistently to the heavens, the cries of mothers and fathers who clutch the lifeless bodies of their children, and who are continually forced to move about in search of a little food and water and safer shelter from bombings", the pontiff said. Leo XIV, who also called for an end to the war in Ukraine,  for humanitarian aid to be let into Gaza and for an end to hostilities in the Palestinian enclave whose situation he described as "increasingly worrying and painful". Image: Antonio Tajani. Photo credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com.