VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday that military options were not a solution in the Middle East and called for a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"I would repeat that military options are no solution and that violence, wherever it comes from and whatever form it takes, must be firmly condemned," the pope said during his annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps.

He said he hoped "that, with the decisive commitment of the international community, the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will be re-established -- an indispensable condition for restoring acceptable living conditions to the population -- and that negotiations for peace will resume."

Benedict called on both sides to reject "hatred, acts of provocation and the use of arms."

Israel is currently in the 13th day of a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip, launched in response to consistent rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave.

The war has killed more than 700 Palestinians, including some 220 children, and wounded more than 3,100 people.

Benedict's new call for peace came the day after a senior Vatican official likened the Gaza Strip to a "concentration camp," sparking outrage in Israel.

"Making remarks that seem to be based on Hamas propaganda while ignoring its numerous crimes...does not bring the people closer to truth and peace," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday.

Benedict said the new conflict "further complicates the quest for a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians."

The 81-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church also urged "wholehearted support ... to dialogue between Israel and Syria and, in Lebanon, to the current strengthening of institutions."

The pontiff, referring to parliamentary elections set to be held in Israel on February 10, said: "It is very important that, in view of the crucial elections...in coming months, leaders will emerge who can decisively carry forward this process and guide their people towards the difficult yet indispensable reconciliation."

The Vatican is in talks with Israel for a possible visit by the pope in May, but has yet to confirm the plan.

Last month, Israeli President Shimon Peres said he met with a Vatican delegation to discuss preparations for a visit, which would also take the pontiff to Jordan.

A right-wing Italian daily, Il Foglio, reported that the pope would celebrate mass in Jerusalem and again in Nazareth and Bethlehem where he will meet Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, while no meeting was planned with Hamas.

Already uneasy relations between the Vatican and Israel have been further strained by the prospect that Nazi-era Pope Pius XII will be declared a saint, despite widespread criticism of his inaction during the Holocaust.

The controversy, which has lingered for decades, resurfaced in October as the pontiff defended the memory of his wartime predecessor and said he hoped his beatification -- the first step towards sainthood -- would go forward quickly.

But, citing Jewish sensitivities, the Vatican later indicated that Benedict was holding off the wartime pope's beatification process.