Pope Francis met Monday with relatives of several Israelis held hostage by Hamas since the October 7 attack, the Vatican announced. The Argentine pontiff, aged 87, had already received a group of relatives of Israeli hostages at the Vatican in November and met Palestinians with family in Gaza the same day.
During a private audience with Francis on Monday morning, members of five Israeli families showed the pope photos of kidnapped loved ones, including Ariel and Kfir Bibas, aged four and one. Relatives of hostages Tamir Nimrodi, 19, Guy Gilboa Dalal, 22, Agam Berger, 19, and Omri Miran, 46, were also present.
Call for peace
On Sunday, after delivering the weekly Regina Coeli prayer at the Vatican, the pope reiterated his call for peace. “Let us always pray for peace, a just and lasting peace, especially for the martyred Ukraine and for Palestine and Israel,” he said.
The families of the Israeli hostages are in Italy as part of a delegation also including Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. The latter met his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in Rome on Sunday, to mark the six-month anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.