Pope tells Israel’s president that a two-state solution is the ‘only way out’ of war in Gaza

Pope Leo XIV and his top diplomats told Israel’s president Thursday that a two-state solution was the “only way out of the war,” as the Vatican called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages and entry of humanitarian aid to famine-stricken Palestinians there.

- By NICOLE WINFIELD

ISRAELI President Isaac Herzog meets with Pope Leo XIV in the pope's library at the Vatican on Thursday.

The Vatican issued an unusually detailed statement following Leo’s meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who also met with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. Herzog, for his part, said he had asked Leo to meet with families of the hostages, and called for intensified international efforts to secure their release.

‘The audience marked the first by history's first American pope with the Israeli head of state. Leo spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July after an Israeli shell slammed into the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people and wounding the parish priest.

The Vatican has tried to maintain its tradition of diplomatic neutrality throughout the war, calling for the return of hostages while denouncing Israel's attacks against civilians in Gaza. But both Pope Francis before, and Leo since his election in May, have voiced mounting outrage at Israel's actions in Gaza, with the late pope calling for an investigation to determine whether they constituted genocide.