ROME (CNS): As the Israeli-Hamas conflict continues, three more children arrived in Italy on a military transport plane late on August 13 for treatment at the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital.
A six-month-old baby boy, who already had undergone an amputation, was admitted to the Rome hospital’s general surgery ward; a 13-year-old boy was placed under the care of the neurology department for a brain injury; and a two-year-old girl, who has celiac disease, was admitted to general pediatrics for treatment of malnutrition, the hospital said in a statement on August 14.
The new arrivals bring to 20 the number of children from Gaza who have been treated at the pediatric hospital since the conflict began in October 2023. With medical care and supplies lacking in Gaza, the first patients arrived in Italy in January 2024 thanks to lobbying efforts by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and negotiations involving the governments of Italy, Israel, Palestine and Egypt.
The hospital statement said the Gaza patients arrived with a variety of urgent medical conditions, including amputations, burns, malnutrition, cancers, heart disease and congenital heart defects, infectious diseases and neurological disorders.
“Every time we welcome children coming from war-torn areas, we are faced with fragile lives that carry both pain and hope,” Tiziano Onesti, hospital president, was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV told reporters he hoped US president, Donald Trump, and Russian president, Vladimir Putin, would find a way to reach a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine during their meeting in Alaska.
“I’m always hoping for a ceasefire,” the pope said. “There must be an end to the violence and so many deaths. Let’s see how they can reach an agreement because the war has been going on too long.”
Pope Leo said that it is not even clear what the point of the war is, “so one must always seek dialogue, diplomacy and not violence.”
The pope was also asked if he was worried about the humanitarian situation in Gaza as Israel continues its military operations to destroy Hamas.
The pope said he was “very” worried. “It cannot continue like this.”
He said, “We know the violence, the terrorism” of Hamas, and “we respect the many who died and the hostages, who must be released, but there also are many who are dying of hunger.”
