Pope Francis on Wednesday vowed to work towards securing the release of four Israelis being held hostage by the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
“The Pope promised to work with governments and religious leaders, including Muslim leaders, to bring back the sons,” said a statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry after the pontiff hosted the families of the captives at the Vatican, taking the time to speak with each of the family members individually.
Hamas last week boasted that it had an Israeli army-issue rifle belonging to Hadar Goldin, one of Israeli soldiers whose body was captured by Hamas during the 2014 summer conflict.
The move was an attempt to secure a prisoner deal. “We are giving the occupation a limited period of time to complete a prisoner deal,” Hamas head Yahya Sinwar declared to a raucous crowd after the rifle was presented.
Along with Goldin, Hamas also captured the body of another IDF soldier, Shaul Oron. The terror group is holding two other Israeli civilians who are believed to be alive, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. Mengistu and al-Sayed, who both have a history of mental illness, crossed over the border and into Gaza of their own accord in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
“It is so difficult to comfort a mother’s tears,” Francis said, according to Israel’s embassy to the Vatican.
Goldin’s mother, Leah, was interviewed after the visit on Radio 103FM and called it “a meeting we had dreamed of.”
She went on to characterize “all Israeli politicians and decision-makers” who have disappointed the families by “serving their own interests” and not adhering to a law that “prohibits giving anything to Gaza without demanding the return of our sons.”
The families chose to use “indirect methods of leverage” she said. “On the religious level, the duty of the mother to bury her son is indisputable.”
She lauded the pope for being “full of understanding” and praised him for the “breakthrough.”
A masked militant from the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, a military wing of Hamas, stands behind a machine gun on a truck, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Leah Goldin reiterated Francis’ pledge that “would work through all his religious channels, in all religions to spread the word, and help,”
“This will bring about change because it’s impossible to ignore him,” she said.
The hostages’ family members also met with senior Italian official’s including Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, as well as the heads of the Italian Jewish community.