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VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo spoke out against the forced displacement of Gaza civilians on Sunday as Israel intensified its military demolition campaign in the Palestinian enclave's main city.
"Together with the pastors of the churches in the Holy Land, I repeat that there is no future based on violence, forced exile, and revenge," the Pope said during his weekly Angelus prayer.
The Holy Land encompasses parts of modern-day Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Egypt, which are sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Leo's role in advocating for peace in Gaza has become starker since Israel struck the territory's only Catholic church in July.
"The people need peace. Those who truly love them work for peace," the first pope from the US added.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in Gaza City and at a refugee camp killed more than 40 people, including 19 women and children.
Health officials at Shifa Hospital, where most of the bodies were brought, said the dead included 14 people killed in a strike late on Saturday, which hit a residential block in the southern side of the city. 
Health staff said a nurse who worked at the hospital was among the dead, along with his wife and three children.
Another strike that targeted a group of people in front of a clinic in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least eight Palestinians, according to the Al-Awda Hospital. 
The dead include four children and two women, the hospital said. Another 22 people were wounded, it said.

CONAKRY: Guineans began casting ballots Sunday on a draft constitution that would pave the way for elections but also permit the junta leader who seized power four years ago to run for president, in a referendum boycotted by the opposition.

The vote, which Guineans and the international community have been awaiting for years, opens the way for stalled political elections in the West African nation.
The country has been ruled by General Mamady Doumbouya since he overthrew elected civilian President Alpha Conde in 2021.
Some 6.7 million Guineans are abled to cast a ballot, out of a population of approximately 14.5 million people.
There was a heavy security presence on the streets of Conakry as polls opened Sunday morning, with armored vehicles and police checkpoints inspecting vehicles in the city center.
At a school in the capital’s Kaloum district, several dozen people queued as polls were monitored by security forces, according to journalists.
“I came to vote of my own free will,” said 23-year-old student Ahmad Diallo, with his voter card in hand.
“This is what everyone is waiting for: to have peace and we want the transition to end.”
First time voter Aisha Camara, 20, she believed the new constitution was “a good thing for Guinea” adding that she “came to support President Doumbouya.”
Results are not expected until Tuesday evening at the earliest, according to the country’s election body.
Authorities deployed no fewer than 45,000 members of the defense and security forces across the country on Sunday to secure the vote, along with 1,000 light and armored vehicles and combat helicopters, the National Gendarmerie said.
Guinea’s military initially pledged to return power to civilians before the end of 2024.
Although its authorities are now promising presidential and legislative elections before the end of the year, the junta has not yet set a date.
Campaigning has been strong in the referendum’s “yes” camp: rallies, marching bands and posters depicting 40-year-old Doumbouya have been prevalent throughout the country.
The “no” campaign, however, was virtually non-existent, mainly taking place on social media and often led by the junta’s critics abroad who fled the country’s crackdown on dissent.
Since 2022, the junta has banned demonstrations and has arrested, prosecuted or pushed into exile several opposition leaders, some of whom were victims of forced disappearances.
On Aug. 23, the junta suspended two of the country’s main opposition parties for three months.
Several media outlets have additionally been suspended and journalists arrested, creating a climate of fear in the press.
Given that context, Guinea’s opposition has called on voters to stay home, denouncing the vote as a “charade” for the junta to keep its hold on power, with the referendum’s outcome determined in advance.
If adopted, the new constitution would replace a “transition charter” established by the military government, which had prevented the junta’s leaders, government members and heads of institutions from standing in elections.
The stipulation does not exist in the draft constitution, thereby paving the way for a presidential run by Doumbouya. All signs point to him standing for office.
The draft also requires candidates be between 40 and 80 years of age and have their primary residence in Guinea — effectively excluding two of the main opponents.
Former President Conde, 87, is living in exile in Istanbul, while opposition leader and ex-Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, age 73, lives in Dakar and Abidjan.
Since Guinea’s 2021 coup, it has remained suspended from the African Union.
Meanwhile the Economic Community of West African States, which sent a mission to Guinea in recent days, has not invited it to participate in its heads of state meetings.
Writing on X, the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner urged “the military authorities to ensure Sunday’s constitutional referendum is peaceful & transparent.”
It added that “recent bans on political parties & media outlets raise serious questions about inclusiveness & free participation for all.”