Pope Francis’ top representative in the Middle East said Monday he was willing to trade places with Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas terrorists.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 58, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, proposed the swap in response to a question during a video conference with journalists in Italy.
“I am ready for an exchange, anything, if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem. There is total willingness on my part,” he said.
“The first thing to do is to try to win the release of the hostages, otherwise there will be no way of stopping [an escalation]. We are willing to help, even me personally,” the monsignor continued.
Pizzaballa noted, however, that he and his office had not yet had any direct communication with Hamas since the horror attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed at least 1,300 people.
“You can’t talk to Hamas. It is very difficult,” he said.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa (right) said he was willing to trade places with Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas. REUTERSAt least 199 people were taken hostage, including many children.
On Friday, Hamas released disturbing footage that showed armed men cradling kidnapped Israeli babies and toddlers.
Israel-Hamas war: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.
2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.
Terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce, “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.
Pizzaballa oversees Roman Catholic activities in Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as Jordan and Cyprus, a region that is home to some 300,000 Roman Catholics.
The cardinal said about 1,000 Christians were sheltering in church buildings in northern Gaza after their homes were destroyed in Israel’s retaliatory strikes.
Video released Friday showed Hamas terrorists holding some of the young Israelis believed taken hostage.
“They don’t know where to go because moving is dangerous,” he said.
Diplomatic efforts have been ramping up to get humanitarian aid into Gaza — a narrow enclave that is home to some 2 million people — as Israel prepares a ground offensive to destroy Hamas.
Health officials in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Another 1,000 people were missing, many believed to be under rubble.
Israel has urged Gaza residents to evacuate to the south. Hamas, which runs Gaza, has told the area’s inhabitants to ignore Israel’s message.
With Post wires
