Pope Francis on Friday deplored the "escalation of violence affecting innocent civilians" in the Middle East, from Syria to Iraq, Jerusalem and the West Bank, and urged the international community to act, AFP reports.
Addressing a global Church summit on the family at the Vatican, Francis said he was praying for those caught up in conflicts across the region which "bring destruction and multiply people's suffering."
"We are following with great concern what is happening in Syria, Iraq, Jerusalem and the West Bank, where we are seeing an escalation of violence that involves innocent civilians and continues to fuel a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions," the pope said.