Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the growing “death spiral” in the Middle East and called on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to engage in a “sincere search for peace,” AFP reported.

“The spiral of death, which grows every day, extinguishes the few lights of trust that exist between the two peoples,” lamented the Sovereign Pontiff after the Angelus prayer on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Francis recalled Thursday’s Israeli raid on a Palestinian camp in the occupied West Bank that killed six people, as well as Friday’s attack by a Palestinian who killed seven people outside a synagogue in East Jerusalem.

“Since the beginning of the year, dozens of Palestinians have been killed during armed attacks by the Israeli army,” Francis condemned.

The Pope calls on “the governments of the two countries and the international community to find other solutions without waiting, including dialogue and a sincere search for peace.”