Pope Benedict XVI renewed his appeal for peace in the Middle East and said he was deeply disappointed that calls for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon had been ignored.

Peace is both a gift of God and the product of political commitment, and all people of good will have a duty to work for an end to hostilities, the pope said at a Sunday blessing Aug. 6.

Several hundred pilgrims applauded the pope as he spoke from the balcony of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome. In a talk that marked the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the pope said Christ's salvation was sorely needed in a world threatened by the "shadows of evil," including fratricidal conflict in the Middle East.

"We well know that peace is first of all a gift of God, to implore with insistence in prayer, but at this moment I also want to recall that peace is the task of all people of good will. Let no one shrink from this duty!" he said.

"Faced with the bitter fact that up to now the calls for an immediate cease-fire in that martyred region have been disregarded, I feel impelled to renew my pressing appeal to that effect, asking everyone to offer their real contribution to the construction of a just and lasting peace," he said.

Pope Benedict donated two ambulances and emergency medical supplies to Caritas Lebanon; the U.N.'s World Food Program announced the papal gifts were placed on a cargo ship and left the port of Brindisi, Italy, Aug. 7. The ship was supposed to go to Cyprus to take on more supplies, then sail to Beirut.

On Aug. 7, fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia continued to escalate. Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon since July 12 had killed nearly 1,000 people --- mostly civilians --- and destroyed roads and bridges, while Hezbollah rocket attacks against northern Israel had killed more than 90 people, including at least 36 civilians.

Pope Benedict, who has urged an immediate end to the fighting since it began, explained the reasons for his appeals in an interview Aug. 5 with four German-language media. The interview was to be broadcast Aug. 13, but the Vatican made available a transcript of the pope's comments on the Middle East.

The pope said the Vatican was motivated in its actions not by political considerations but by the conviction that "war is the worst solution for everyone. It brings nothing of good for anyone, not even for the apparent victors. We know this well in Europe, after the two world wars."

"What everyone needs is peace. There are moral forces ready to help people understand that the only solution is that we must live together," he said.

He said the Vatican's actions and his own appeals were designed to mobilize all the potential forces of peace.

"Politicians must find a way to make this happen as quickly as possible and above all in a lasting manner," he said.

'Definitive solution' needed
A cease-fire may stop the immediate destruction in Lebanon, but new wars are bound to erupt in the region as long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues, said a church expert on the Middle East.

Jesuit Father Samir Khalil Samir, an Egyptian-born expert on Islam who teaches in Beirut, Lebanon, said a long-term solution must include Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state, Arab recognition of the state of Israel, and the disarming of all militias, including Lebanese-based Hezbollah.

"What is needed is the courage to find a definitive solution. This problem has been going on for decades, and it's like a cancer that keeps changing forms," Father Samir wrote in a commentary published Aug. 5 by AsiaNews, a Rome-based missionary news agency.

Father Samir said Hezbollah should have been disarmed years ago, in line with U.N. resolutions, but the organization has gained popular support largely because of the expansionist policies of Israel.

While Hezbollah committed an "unforgivable act of stupidity" in kidnapping two Israeli soldiers, the Jesuit said, Israel's full-scale response has been completely out of proportion, with the annihilation of roads, bridges, ports, the main airport and factories throughout the country.

"Lebanon is already destroyed. It will take billions of euros and who knows how long to reconstruct it," he said.

"In addition, the only source of income was tourism, but today foreigners have all fled and no one knows if and when they can return. The situation in the country is catastrophic," he said.

Father Samir said he was disappointed that the international community had not acted more forcefully against Israel. He said Israel is supported unconditionally by the United States, and leading industrialized countries have criticized only the excessive nature of the Israeli offensive.

"The problem is not the excess, but the principle itself," Father Samir said. "There is a difference of nature, not degree, between a provocation like that carried out by Hezbollah and a war with bombardments, ships, warplanes, soldiers and tanks," he said.

He said many Lebanese Christians, who have long opposed Hezbollah, are now angry at Israel and desperate about their own future. One bishop estimated that 70 percent of his people would try to get out of the country once the Beirut airport reopens to regular flights.

---CNS