At the start of his one-day visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Pope Benedict called for the creation of a Palestinian homeland. The pontiff is continuing a landmark visit to the Holy Land that began on Monday.

Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, where Pope Benedict XVI met with Muslim clerics on Tuesday.

At the residence of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Benedict XVI told Palestinians that the Vatican supported a “sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbours, within internationally recognised borders.” The pope also called on Palestinians to resist the temptation of “terrorism”.

The pope also evoked the Palestinian casualties during Israel’s 22-day offensive, which ended in mid-January, in the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement.

“To those among you who mourn the loss of family members and loved ones in the hostilities, particularly the recent conflict in Gaza, I offer an assurance of deep compassion and frequent remembrance in prayer,” the pope said.

“That he mentioned the war in Gaza is probably something that is not going to go down too well with Israelis,” said FRANCE 24's Jerusalem correspondent Annette Young, from the Bethlehem gathering.

Later in Bethlehem’s Manger Square, the site that Christians consider Jesus’ birthplace, the pope celebrated mass before a crowd of around five thousand worshippers. Benedict XVI said he was praying for an end to Israel’s embargo of the Gaza Strip.

"Please be assured of my solidarity with you in the immense work of rebuilding which now lies ahead, and my prayers that the embargo will soon be lifted," the pontiff said.

Solidarity with refugees

Later on Tuesday, the Pope is due to visit the Aida camp outside Bethlehem, where some 4,600 refugees live.

“He has expressed his compassion for the Palestinian people, he acknowledged their suffering as a result of the turmoil,” said Young. “But we’ll have to see what he says to those people whose lives are effectively overshadowed by this eight-metre high concrete wall,” said Young, referring to a checkpoint that the pope was driven through on his arrival in Bethlehem from Jerusalem, part of a wall that forms part of the hundreds of kilometres of barriers Israel has erected in the West Bank.

Aida residents hope the pontiff's visit will draw the world's attention to their demands to return to the 43 villages they or their parents once called home in what today is Israel - a demand rejected by the Jewish state.