"We must overcome this blind violence that blinds everyone," said the Jerusalem Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to the online portal Vatican News (Monday).
"It is time to open a new chapter and think of solutions to the conflict that have nothing to do with violence, bombs or the like."
He is in constant contact with the Catholic parish in Gaza, the cardinal added.
The situation there is becoming more dramatic every day. Regarding the negotiations between the terrorist organisation Hamas and the mediating states USA and Qatar for a ceasefire, he said:
"The necessary elements for a possible ceasefire are there - and always have been. You just have to want it."
Both Israel and Hamas must be prepared to compromise.
After five months since 7 October, there is a sense of fatigue on all sides.
"The time is ripe to take other paths."
According to Pizzaballa, both parties want a long-term solution in view of the serious crisis.
The two-state solution appears to be the only possible one. However, this is not technically easy.
The cardinal called for paths that "guarantee stability, freedom and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians".