Pope Francis on Sunday called on Israel and the Palestinians to engage in dialogue in pursuit of peace, deploring the recent violence in the region.Speaking after the Angelus prayer in Rome, the Pope said he had been greatly saddened by the news of the Palestinians killed during Israeli counter-terrorism operations, as well as by the deaths of Israeli Jews in a synagogue terror attack on Friday.

Pope Francis expressed his sorrow for the recent flareup in violence in the Holy Land on Sunday in his greetings following the noon-day Angelus prayer.Since the beginning of the year, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in firefights with the Israeli army,” he said.The Pope recalled the death of 10 Palestinians, including a woman, during an “Israeli military anti-terrorist raid in Palestine.”He also lamented the deaths of 7 Israeli Jews who were killed, and three others who were injured, by a Palestinian as they were leaving a synagogue on Friday.

“I appeal to the two governments and the international community, and I ask them to find immediately, without wasting any time, other paths which include dialogue and the sincere search for peace.”

“It is with great pain that I hear of the news coming from the Holy Land.The spiral of death which is growing every day does nothing but kill the little trust that there is between these two peoples,” he said.