Amman Today

publish date 2026-02-18 08:46:00

Amman – The Vatican’s chief diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said on Tuesday that the Vatican will not participate in the Peace Council initiative launched by US President Donald Trump, adding that efforts to deal with crises must be managed by the United Nations.

Pope Leo, the Vatican’s first American pope, received an invitation to join the council in January.

Under Trump’s plan, which led to a fragile ceasefire in Gaza in October, the council was to temporarily oversee the administration of the Strip. But Trump, who heads the council, later said that its powers would expand to include dealing with global conflicts.

The Council is scheduled to hold its first meeting in Washington on Thursday to discuss the reconstruction of Gaza.

Italy and the European Union said that their representatives intend to attend as observers, due to it not joining the Council.

Parolin said that the Vatican “will not participate in the peace council because of its own nature, which of course differs from the nature of other countries.”

He added, “One of the concerns is that at the international level, the United Nations should, first of all, be the one managing these crises. This is one of the points we insist on.”

The truce in Gaza has witnessed repeated violations, with reports of the martyrdom of hundreds of Palestinians and the killing of four Israeli soldiers since it took effect in October.

Israel’s attack on Gaza led to the death of more than 72,000 people and caused a hunger crisis and internal displacement for the entire population of the Strip.

A number of human rights experts and researchers say that Israel’s attack on Gaza amounts to genocide, as was concluded by a United Nations investigation.

Agencies

#Ammon #newspaper #Vatican #participate #peace #council #headed #Trump

World News

Source 1 : https://www.ammonnews.net/article/980717

Source 2 : ألدستور