Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to "act immediately to end the current tragic situation" in the Gaza Strip, AFP reported.
The pontiff deplored the "refusal to dialogue" which has resulted in an "indescribable worsening" of conditions through ground fighting for the coastal strip's population, "once again the victims of hatred and war".
At least 23 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza since Israel's ground offensive in the Hamas-run enclave began on Saturday, medics said on Sunday.
In total, more than 485 Palestinians have died, including 80 children, with more than 2,500 wounded according to Gaza medics since Israeli military operations began on December 27.
Rocket fire from Gaza over the past week has killed four people in Israel.
The Vatican has yet to confirm that the pope will visit Israel, reportedly set for May 8-15.
Benedict added after Sunday Angelus prayers that: "War and hatred are not solutions to problems.
"Today, in all the churches of the Holy Land," church leaders are "calling on worshippers to pray for the end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and (for) justice and peace for their land," the pope also said.
"I join in their prayers and invite you to do the same."
In his New Year's and World Peace Day message on Thursday, the pope warned that "violence, hatred and mistrust are themselves forms of poverty -- perhaps the greatest -- that must be fought.
"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 not prevail," the pope urged, having called last Sunday on the international community to help both sides abandon "this dead-end road."
Israel unleashed a massive bombardment of Hamas targets in Gaza on December 27 in response to militant rocket and mortar fire.
