While outright war conditions pertain in Gaza and along its border in southern Israel, in the north, in Jerusalem and the West Bank, conditions are also fraught. Violence between Palestinians and Israeli settlers has broken out sporadically.

Let me help you, Jews and gentiles alike, bridge the gap that’s keeping us from really being there for each other.

Father Neuhaus: The current military confrontations in the Holy Land are accompanied by a war to control public opinion at home and abroad. The rhetoric used on both sides basically denies the other side’s humanity.

Pope Francis today called for “the immediate release” of the more than 100 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza and, at the same time, expressed his deep concern at the “total siege” imposed by Israel on Gaza.

Israel’s Embassy to the Holy See underlined the need for the church to condemn “the hideous crime,” name the perpetrators and acknowledge “Israel’s basic right to defend itself against the atrocity.”

As the death toll rises in Israel, Pope Francis prayer for the families of the victims and “for all those who are living through hours of terror and anxiety.”