Pope: Our Hearts Are in Bethlehem, Slain Gaza Kids Little Jesuses of Today

By Staff, Agencies

Pope Francis has deplored the “desperate humanitarian situation” in the Gaza Strip and repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire and provision of aid to the besieged territory.

“I plead for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims, and call for a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid,” he said in his Christmas message on Monday.

He said children dying in wars, including in Gaza, are the “little Jesuses of today” and that “Israeli” strikes there were reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians.

Addressing the world on Christmas Eve, he emphasized the need for peace in the Holy Land.

“Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world,” the pope said.

He once again took swipe at the armaments industry, saying it ultimately controlled the "puppet-strings of war."