The leader of the Holy Catholic Church, Pope Francis on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, called on the priest who leads Gaza’s tiny Catholic community to offer prayers following the ongoing fight ignited by a Hamas attack on Israel.

“The pope called me a few minutes ago… he expressed his closeness and offered his prayers,” Father Gabriel Romanelli told newsmen.

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Fr. Romanelli thanked the 86-year-old pontiff when he called for “peace in Israel and Palestine” and for “the attacks and the weapons” to cease, saying “terrorism and war do not lead to a solution”.

“The pope also called yesterday,” Romanelli added.

He confirmed Pope Francis wanted to know how the people in the parish were doing.

The Priest said, “he was stuck in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank after leaving Gaza to collect some medicines and was now unable to return.

“The Christian community is doing fine, as well as they can in this situation,” he said, adding that his parish was currently hosting around 150 refugees.

The death toll from the war passed 3,000 on Tuesday, the fourth day of fierce fighting since the Gaza-based Islamists launched a surprise attack on Israel.