Head of the Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday sought a "sovereign Palestinian homeland" offering his strongest publicbacking yet for an independent Palestinian state standing beside itsPresident Mahmoud Abbas as he is on a visit to Jerusalem.
"The Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinianhomeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with itsneighbors, within internationally recognized borders," international mediaoutlets quoted him as saying on arrival in the holy city.
Abbas was alongside the Pope, when he said he understands the Palestinianssufferings while Israeli tanks and troops pressed towards Gaza City onThursday but met fierce resistance from Hamas.
The pontiff also called for a Palestinian homeland on Monday in presence ofIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrived in Israel on a five-day visit.
According to reports the Palestinian President invoked the concreteseparation barrier and the occupation in his greeting to the pontiff.
"In this Holy Land, the occupation still continues building separationwalls. . . Instead of building the bridge that can link us, they (Israel) areusing the force of occupation to force Muslims and Christians to emigrate,"he said.
After meeting with Abbas, the Pope was to tour the Church of the Nativity,built over the grotto where tradition holds Jesus was born, and then visit aPalestinian refugee camp.
Netanyahu says Palestinians were not ready to rule themselves as he so farresisted international pressure to endorse the idea of a Palestinian statealongside Israel.
The US-based AP news agency said Israelis have criticized the German-bornpope for failing to adequately express remorse for the Holocaust, while thePalestinians are pressing him to draw attention to the difficult conditionsof life under Israeli rule.
The Pope on Wednesday said a two-state solution was needed for Israel andPalestine to put an end to wars such as the current one and called for aspecial status for Jerusalem.
Israel has consistently rejected suggestions that the city, which is sacredto Christians, Muslims and Jews, could have a special, or internationalstatus.
In an interview with Italian state television RAI's TG1 news channel onWednesday, the Pope expressed hope a regional escalation could be avoided inthe conflict as he has trusts in "human wisdom" to avoid escalation of war.
The Vatican News, meanwhile, said the war that broke out in Israel andPalestine could witness a "global escalation" but he hopes it does not happenby trusting in "human wisdom".
"(Those are) two peoples who have to live together. With that wise solution,two states. The Oslo accords, two well-defined states and Jerusalem with aspecial status," he told the Italian broadcaster.
In 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine LiberationOrganisation leader Yasser Arafat shook hands on the Oslo Accordsestablishing limited Palestinian autonomy.
"Every war is a defeat. Nothing is solved with war . . . Nothing. Everythingis gained with peace, with dialogue," the pontiff said.
The Pope said the world was going through a "very dark hour".
"One cannot find the ability to reflect clearly and at the darkest hour Iwill add: one more defeat. It has been like this since the last world war,from 1945 until now, one defeat after another, because the wars have notstopped," he said.
The Pope said he speaks every day by telephone to the religious who are inGaza. "I call the Egyptian assistant parish priest, Father Yussuf, every dayand he tells me, 'In the parish (township) we have 563 people, all Christiansand also some Muslims. Sick children cared for by Mother Teresa's nuns'".
"In this small parish, there are 563 people! Every day I try to accompanythem. For the moment, thank God, the Israeli forces respect that parish."
The Pope's comments on Thursday was the third day of his pilgrimage meantlargely to boost interfaith relations while the US-based AP news agency saidthe effort "has been fraught with political land mines" so far.
In Bethlehem, Benedict delivered a special message of solidarity to the 1.4million Palestinians isolated in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip though he has noplans to visit the enclave under ruthless Israeli military assaults.
"In a special way, my heart goes out to the pilgrims from war-torn Gaza: Iask you to bring back to your families and your communities my warm embrace,and my sorrow for the loss, the hardship and the suffering you have had toendure," the pope told thousands of Palestinians.
AP news agency reported the Palestinians packed an open-air Mass in MangerSquare, some hoisting Palestinian and Vatican flags and pictures of thepontiff and Jesus.
In a gesture for the pope's visit, Israel allowed nearly 100 members ofGaza's tiny Christian community to travel to the West Bank through Israeliterritory that separates the two Palestinian areas.
According to AP while the Pope acknowledged Palestinian difficulties, hestopped short of blaming Israel saying "I know how much you (Palestinians)have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of the turmoil that hasafflicted this land for decades".
Bishop of the Holy Family Catholic church in Gaza City George Hernandz,meanwhile, said the Pope's singling out of Gaza "means that Gaza is in thepope's heart" and called the pontiff's comments "a very courageous speech andwe are satisfied".
The pope, who has described himself as a "pilgrim of peace," has been forcedto navigate some of the touchiest political issues as he makes his waythrough Israel and the West Bank - his first visit to the region as the headof the Roman Catholic church.
