"I firmly re-launch the appeal to the conflicting parties, that they may immediately cease fire and let humanitarian aids be sent over, and, with the support of the international community, that we may seek ways to open negotiations". A new appeal for peace in the Middle East was sent yesterday by Benedict XVI, before the Angelus prayer, from Valle d’Aosta, as he also mentioned that yesterday he had launched, "given the escalation of the situation in the Middle East", "a special day of prayer and penance". "I take the opportunity he added to reassert the right of the Lebanese to the integrity and sovereignty of their country, the right of the Israelis to live in peace on their State, and the right of the Palestinians to have a free and sovereign homeland". The Pope "deeply sympathises with the helpless civilians, unjustly damaged by a conflict in which they are just victims: those of Galilee, forced to live in shelters, and the vast multitude of Lebanese people who once again see their country being destroyed and have had to leave everything behind and escape abroad". Then, he raised "to God a heart-felt prayer, so that the aspiration to peace of the vast majority of the populations may become a reality as soon as possible, through the shared commitment of the people in charge". Finally, a new appeal "to all the charities, that they may let those populations receive the concrete expression of widespread solidarity".
