Israel and Hamas “have both signed off” on the first phase of a White House peace proposal for Gaza, President Donald Trump said late Oct. 8 in a social media post.
Israel and Hamas “have both signed off” on the first phase of a White House peace proposal for Gaza, President Donald Trump said late Oct. 8 in a social media post.
President Donald Trump on Sept. 23 addressed the U.N. General Assembly amid the backdrop of conflict in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as world leaders still question the extent to which the U.S. will be involved in global affairs as the Trump administration implements its “America First” foreign policy.
Pope Leo XIV appealed to Israel and Hamas to stop the violence that has caused “so much terror, destruction and death.”
As Israel and Hamas near a ceasefire, Catholic ordinaries in the Holy Land said the deal is a necessary step but also acknowledged that more has to happen to “credibly address the deep-rooted issues” at the core of the conflict.
As the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel approached, there was a sense of calm at Columbia University — a sharp contrast to last spring, when protests rocked the campus and led the university’s president to resign. Now, with the start of Israel’s incursion into Lebanon and Iran’s subsequent missile attack on Israel, there is concern that the campus could once again see protests. Members of the Columbia University community, however, don’t expect any new demonstrations to reach the same scale as those last spring, according to Father Roger Landry, the university’s Catholic chaplain.
With Israel and Hamas still unable to reach a deal to free hostages and halt their war, Catholic leaders in the northwest United States are calling for an agreement between the sides, as well as for them to negotiate a two-state solution for lasting peace.
Following the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s denouncement of a series of attacks on Christians in Gaza by Israeli forces Dec. 16, including the killing of a mother and daughter at a Catholic parish, Pope Francis and numerous bishops across the globe also condemned the attack, calling for peace.
Joseph Borgen has had the same menorah since he built it in kindergarten. He looks forward to the first day of Hanukkah every year, when he can place it in his front window for all those who pass by his apartment to see.
Palestine’s ambassador to the Holy See has lauded Pope Francis’ description of the current war in Gaza as “defeat” and has called for both a cease-fire and an end to Israeli settlements, urging international leaders to do more.
Qatar’s foreign affairs ministry said Nov. 27 that an agreement has been reached to extend the Israel-Hamas truce for another two days. The announcement was made by a ministry’s spokesperson on X on the final day of a four-day cease-fire in which hostages abducted by Hamas in October have been released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.