Pope welcomes Gaza hostage release, says dialogue ‘is the only path to peace’

Pope Francis welcomes a temporary truce that has seen some hostages set free in the Middle East, and prays for further releases.

“Today we thank God because there is finally a truce between Israel and Palestine and some hostages have been freed,” the Argentinian pontiff says in a statement read by a Vatican official at the weekly Angelus prayer.

“We pray that they all may be [freed] as rapidly as possible and that more humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza and that they insist on dialogue,” the 86-year-old leader of the Catholic Church adds in response to the release Friday and Saturday by Hamas of 41 Israeli and foreign hostages held captive by the terror group since October 7.

Dialogue “is the only way, the only path to peace. Those who do not want to hold a dialogue do not want peace,” Francis concludes.