After the Angelus prayer at noon on Sunday in Saint Peter’s Square, the Bishop of Rome pointed out that “since the beginning of the year, dozens of Palestinians have died in shootings with the Israeli army.”

Francis also referred to the confrontation that took place last Friday in Jerusalem, where seven Israelis and a Palestinian who, according to the militias of that country, acted in response to the killing of nine people in the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday in a Tel Aviv army operation, were killed.

“The spiral of deaths that increases day after day does nothing more than close the few loopholes of trust that exist between the two peoples,” the pope added.

“I call on the two governments and the international community to find, immediately and without delay, other paths that include dialogue and the sincere search for peace,” the Supreme Pontiff added in his remarks.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry warned on Sunday that the current escalation of violence caused by Israel will lead to a regional explosion, and called on the international community, and especially the United States, to go from words to deeds to stop these attacks.

jg/ode/ort