LONDON (AP) – Madonna urged the Pope to travel to Gaza and “shear the light on the children before it’s too late.”
The superstar posted her appeal to the clergy on social media on Monday, saying that her son Rocco’s birthday encouraged her to make a post. Rocco turned 25 on Monday.
Speaking to Pope Leo XIV, she wrote: “The most holy Father. Go to Gaza and shine a light on your children before it’s too late. As a mother, I can’t stand seeing their suffering.
“Children in the world belong to everyone. You are one of us who cannot refuse entry,” she added. “We need to have the humanitarian gates fully open to save these innocent children. There’s no more time. You’ll go. Love, Madonna.”
The singer added that she is not on the side of the war.
“I’m not pointing my fingers, taking responsibility, or taking on my side. Everyone is suffering. I’m including hostage mothers,” she writes. “I pray they’ll be released too. I’m just trying to do what I can to prevent these kids from dying of starvation.”
The Pope recently updated his call for an immediate ceasefire Gaza calls on the international community to respect humanitarian law and its obligation to protect civilians.
“I once again seek to end this wildness in the war immediately and have a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” the Pope said last month.
Aid workers and doctors have been saying that after months of Israeli lockdown and confusion, Distribution of consumableschildren in Gaza without previous conditions are I’m beginning to die From malnutrition.
The Israeli air and ground attack, triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, drove most of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians and pushed the territory into starvation.
The United Nations said more than 5,000 children across Gaza had been diagnosed with malnutrition in May, but that was probably an undercount. Malnutrition was virtually absent before the war. Doctors are struggling to treat children because they run out of supplies, the United Nations says.
Israel denies hunger is happening Children are hungry. It says it has provided ample food during the war and blames Hamas for causing shortages by stealing aid and trying to control the distribution of food.
