War itself is a “crime against humanity,” Pope Francis said Sunday, as he renewed his call for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“Let’s not forget that. People need peace, the world needs peace,” said the sovereign pontiff after the weekly “Angel of the Lord” prayer, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

The Pope asked people not to forget those who suffer from the “cruelty of war” in different parts of the world.

He renewed his call for peace in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. “We pray that those in power in relation to these conflicts will reflect on the fact that war is not the way to solve them, because it brings death among civilians and destroys cities and infrastructure,” Pope Francis said.

The beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip was a brutal and unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas militants in the south of Israel on October 7. As a result of the attack, about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 people were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive that began on October 27. During a temporary ceasefire in November, 105 hostages were released from the Gaza Strip in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons.