A day after an Israeli government minister publicly criticized the pope for recommending that the international community investigate whether the military offensive in Gaza amounts to a genocide of the Palestinian people, Pope Francis again denounced Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday.
In what seemed to be a reference to Friday’s Israeli airstrikes that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza, Francis began his yearly Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who oversee the Vatican’s various departments.
The pope declared, “Yesterday, we bombed children.” “This is cruel. It’s not war. This speaks to the heart, which is why I wanted to say it.
As head of the Roman Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion members, the pope typically avoids taking sides in disputes, but lately he has spoken out more about Israel’s military campaign against the Palestinian militant organization Hamas.
The pontiff claimed in passages from his book released last month that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” according to some international experts.
Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs, strongly criticized those remarks in an uncommon open letter that was released on Friday by the Italian newspaper Il Foglio. In his remarks, the pope “trivialized” the term “genocide,” according to Chikli.
According to Israel’s foreign ministry, the country was protecting itself from the brutality demonstrated by Hamas militants “hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children,” as well as by the abuse and detention of 100 hostages.
The ministry added that the “death of any innocent person in a war is a tragedy” and that “unfortunately, the Pope has chosen to ignore all of this.”
“Israel makes extraordinary efforts to prevent harm to innocents, while Hamas makes extraordinary efforts to increase harm to Palestinian civilians,” said the ministry.
Francis added on Saturday that the patriarch, or Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, had attempted to visit Catholics in the Gaza Strip on Friday but was turned away.
Regarding the pope’s comments regarding the patriarch’s denial of entry, the patriarch’s office informed Reuters that it was unable to comment.
The Israeli military announced on Saturday that, barring any significant security concerns, the patriarch’s entry into Gaza had been authorized and that he would arrive on Sunday. According to the military, assistance from the patriarch’s office arrived last week.
Israel “works in cooperation with the Christian community to make it easier for the Christian population that remains in the Gaza Strip—including coordinating its removal from the Gaza Strip to a third country,” according to a military statement, and permits clerics to enter Gaza.
According to Israeli authorities, the war started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked communities in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and capturing over 250 hostages who were taken back to Gaza.
More than 45,000 people, primarily civilians, have been killed by Israel’s retaliatory campaign, which it claims is intended to eradicate Hamas. according to authorities in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas. Nearly all of the population has been displaced by the campaign, and a large portion of the enclave has been destroyed.
Israel claims that militants have been responsible for at least one-third of the deaths, and while it works to protect civilians, it is fighting militants who it claims have infiltrated the populace in crowded cities. Hamas rejects this.
