"Let us have the courage to resume dialogue so that there is an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and on all fronts, the hostages are freed and the people are helped with humanitarian aid," the pope said Aug. 4 after leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer.
"Attacks, even targeted ones, and killings can never be a solution," the pope told thousands of people gathered in the midday heat to pray with him.
The pope's remarks came after the killing July 31 of a top Hamas leader in Iran --a killing widely attributed to Israel. Attacks and killings, the pope said, never promote"the path of justice, the path of peace, but generate even more hatred and revenge."