ISTANBUL

Pope Leo XIV has ordered the delivery of 5,000 doses of antibiotics for children in Gaza as humanitarian aid begins to enter the enclave following two years of conflict, the Vatican has said.

The initiative, carried out through the Office of Papal Charities, aims to provide urgent medical support for Gaza’s youngest victims, Vatican News reported on Tuesday.

According to the Vatican, the medicines have already been distributed to those in need with the help of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

“We are putting into practice the words of the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, dedicated to the poor,” said Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.

“It is necessary to act, to pay attention to those in need,” he added, stressing that the Church’s mission is credible only when expressed through “concrete gestures of closeness and welcome.”

The Vatican noted that Pope Leo’s gesture was made possible by the reopening of crossings that allowed humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, marking what the pontiff had recently described as a “spark of hope” for the Holy Land.

The pope’s charity efforts also continue in Ukraine, where aid shipments coordinated by the Basilica of Saint Sophia in Rome remain ongoing.

Trucks carrying food, oil, hygiene products, and other essentials have recently reached the city of Kharkiv.

The Vatican said the shipments were part of its ongoing humanitarian response to the war, which has included the delivery of power generators and thermal clothing to help civilians endure the harsh winter conditions.

Through these acts of solidarity, the pontiff seeks to “draw close to the suffering and pain of people exhausted by years of war,” the Vatican added.