Pop icon Madonna has directly appealed to Pope Leo XIV to travel to besieged Gaza, urging him to "bring your light to the children before it's too late" as Israel continues with its genocidal attacks on the territory.
"Most Holy Father, please go to Gaza and bring your light to the children before it's too late. As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering. The children of the world belong to everyone," she wrote on X on Monday.
"You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry. We need the humanitarian gates to be fully opened to save these innocent children. There is no more time. Please say you will go. Love, Madonna," she said.
"Politics cannot affect Change. Only consciousness can. Therefore, I am reaching out to a Man of God," she added.
Marking her son Rocco's birthday, Madonna said: "I feel the best gift I can give to him as a mother is to ask everyone to do what they can to help save the innocent children caught in the crossfire in Gaza. I am not pointing fingers, placing blame, or taking sides. Everyone is suffering."
"I am merely trying to do what I can to keep these children from dying of starvation," she said, urging followers to donate to humanitarian groups like the World Central Kitchen.
Israel's genocide in Gaza
Israel has killed over 61,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its carnage in besieged Gaza.
Some 11,000 Palestinians are feared buried under rubble of annihilated homes, according to Palestine's official WAFA news agency.
Experts, however, contend that the actual death toll significantly exceeds what the Gaza authorities have reported, estimating it could be around 200,000.
Over the course of the genocide, Israel has reduced most of the blockaded enclave to ruins, and practically displaced all of its population.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
