(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 12.16.2023).- While Israeli snipers targeted Catholics taking refuge in the only Catholic parish in Gaza, the Pope’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, met with Mrs. Enas Sayed Mohamed Aly Mekkawy, Delegate of the League of Arab States, accompanied by several ambassadors at the Vatican.
The ambassadors present at the meeting with the Vatican’s top diplomat were Issa Kassissieh, Ambassador of Palestine; Farid El Khazen, Ambassador of Lebanon; Rahman Farhan Abdullah Alaameri, Ambassador of Iraq; Mahmoud Talaat, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
During the cordial discussions held in the Secretariat of State, the Secretary of State expressed the Holy See’s concern about the situation in Israel and Palestine. He reiterated the appeal made on several occasions by Pope Francis for a ceasefire, the access of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the well-known position on the urgent need to achieve the full implementation of the two-state solution and an internationally guaranteed special status for the city of Jerusalem, for lasting peace in the region.
