Netanyahu held a call with Pope Leo XIV, where he expressed optimism about the hostage talks, while the Pope asked to keep sacred places safe from the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Pope Leo XIV in a Friday phone call that Israel is in advanced stages of negotiations for the release of hostages,

Pope Leo XIV slammed the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza on Sunday and urged against the “indiscriminate use of force”, just days after a deadly strike by Israel’s military on a Catholic church. “I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,