Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – A "very lofty appeal" to the responsibility of those involved in the conflict in the Holy Land, which is bound to have an impact on the formation of people. This is how Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custodian of the Holy Land, described the appeal made yesterday by Benedict XVI to Israelis, Palestinians and "nations with particular responsibility in the region", that they may "undertake to stop the bloodshed, multiplying initiatives of humanitarian aid and encouraging the immediate resumption of direct, serious and concrete negotiations." In Fr Pizzaballa's view, the commitment of the Holy See may not yield immediate and concrete fruit in the political world, but it keeps attention focused on the problem of peace in the region and also has a bearing on the formation of people.

Fr Pizzaballa told AsiaNews: "The pope did well to call attention to the responsibility of Israelis, Palestinians and other States who have an influence in the region. His is a message of high moral and spiritual character, non political. It will have a big influence on the formation of people, but I don't believe that the political world of the Middle East and elsewhere, will listen to it much. In other words, in my view, it will not have, nor did it expect to have, a big and immediate direct influence on political factors. But the insistence of the Holy See on peace and on the international responsibility to search for it is a very lofty appeal which serves, at least, to keep attention focused on the problem."

Last night, Hamas and Fatah announced that they had reached an agreement of principle regarding the formation of a national unity government, held by many to be necessary to launch negotiations with Israel. Doesn't this seem to be a sign of hope to you?

"Hope should always be preserved. Concretely, however, I would be very cautious in assessing these announcements: there have already been many proclamations and statements of principle made in the past and they did not yield concrete results. In my humble opinion, it is still too soon to be hopeful..."

There is the impression that both Israel and the Palestinians, at least the majority, want to emerge from this impasse of violence and reprisals.

"I believe everyone wants to emerge from it, but at the same time, everyone is enslaved by his own schemes, prejudices and even by the need, let's put it this way, to save face. Now, especially as regards the situation in the Gaza Strip, the most urgent need is to stop the spiral of violence and then to see how to climb back up the slope to return to negotiation."