The chairman of the World Jewish Congress met with Pope Francis, requesting that the leader of the Catholic Church assist in securing the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

The meeting between WJC President Ronald Lauder and Francis, 86, occurred as Israel updated the number of Israeli and foreign captives held by Hamas to 203 amid the intensifying conflict in Gaza.

PHOTO | COURTESY Gaza

"We ask Your Holiness to use your power, your strength, to get these hostages released," Lauder said the 86-year-old pontiff, according to the World Jesuit Conference.

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"You may be the only person who has the moral authority to do this."

According to Israeli officials, the Gaza conflict erupted after Hamas terrorists poured across the border into southern Israel on October 7 and shot, stabbed, and burned to death more than 1,400 people, predominantly civilians.


According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry, more than 3,785 people, primarily civilians, have been murdered in Israeli retaliation strikes in Gaza, with entire city blocks flattened, water, food, and power cut off, and more than one million displaced.

Israel has sworn to destroy Hamas while attempting to free Israeli and foreign detainees held hostage by the extremists.

The pope has urged the hostages' release while worrying about Gaza's population. The World Jewish Congress, founded in 1936, represents Jewish communities in over 100 countries to governments and international institutions.