VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday said he hoped "violence, hatred and mistrust" would not prevail in the world in 2009, notably in the Middle East.
"Violence, hatred and mistrust are also forms of poverty -- perhaps the greatest -- that must be fought," the pope said during a mass marking the Roman Catholic Church's traditional January 1 World Day of Peace, on the theme of fighting poverty and building peace.
Benedict had on Sunday denounced the violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, calling on the international community to help both sides abandon "this dead-end road".
The death toll from Israel's blitz on Hamas in Gaza rose to 400 on Thursday, the sixth day of its biggest military operation against the Palestinian territory in decades. Hamas also fired rockets into Israel as international efforts to secure a truce foundered.
In Thursday's homily the pope said: "The deep desire to live in peace ... rises in the hearts of the great majority of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, once more placed in danger by the massive violence that has broken out in the Gaza Strip in response to other violence."
"May this does not prevail," he urged during the mass in St Peter's Basilica.
The head of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics said poverty "prevents people and families from living in dignity ... offends justice and equality (and) threatens peaceful coexistence."
The Vatican has yet to confirm that the pope will visit Israel and the occupied territories, reportedly set for May 8-15.
Last month a spokesman for Israeli President Shimon Peres said a Vatican delegation had come to Israel to discuss preparations for a possible visit.
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