section_path: International diplomatic role/Israeli–Palestinian conflict
section_name: Israeli–Palestinian conflict
paragraph_text: Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  
  In May 2014, Francis visited Israel and the Palestinian territories. Francis offered symbolic gestures to both sides in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In addition to visiting the Western Wall, Yad Vashem, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, he became the first pope to visit the grave of Theodor Herzl, entered the West Bank from Jordan rather than Israel, and invited Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli president Shimon Peres to a prayer summit at the Vatican—both accepted. He also visited Bethlehem, where he gave a speech alongside Abbas, and celebrated Mass at the Church of the Nativity. At the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he visited the Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial; at the invitation of Palestinian authorities, he prayed at a portion of the Israeli West Bank barrier. In addition to meetings with Peres and Netanyahu, Francis met Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, Chief Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau, and Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Places Shmuel Rabinowitz.
  
  In May 2015, Francis welcomed Abbas to the Vatican and said that: "The angel of peace destroys the evil spirit of war. I thought about you: may you be an angel of peace." The Vatican signed a treaty recognizing the state of Palestine. The Vatican issued statements concerning the hope that peace talks could resume between Israel and Palestine. Abbas's visit was on the occasion of the canonization of two Palestinian nuns.
  
  On 13 May 2015, Vatican City announced the intention to sign its first treaty with the State of Palestine after formally recognizing it as a state in February 2013.
  
  In May 2021, amid clashes in Jerusalem, Francis reiterated calls for peace between Israel and Palestinians during his Regina caeli address.
  
  Francis condemned the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and also criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip during the subsequent Gaza war, saying that "terror should not justify terror" and describing Israel's airstrikes as "cruelty, this is not war." He condemned the killing of two Palestinian Christian women by an IDF sniper in Gaza, calling it "terrorism". Throughout the war, Francis had called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the implementation of a two-state solution. In November 2024, Pope Francis suggested that the international community should investigate if Israel's campaign in Gaza is a genocide of the Palestinian people. From October 2023 until the day he died, he spoke with the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip every night. In his last public appearance he again called for a ceasefire and condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation" in Gaza.