Pope says Israel’s bombing of children in Gaza is ‘cruelty … not war’
Pope Francis has condemned Israeli air strikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
The pope opened his annual Christmas address with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli air strikes on Friday that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza.
“Yesterday, children were bombed,” he said. “This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli sharply criticised the pontiff in an open letter published by the Italian newspaper Il Foglio. Chikli said the pope’s remarks amounted to a “trivialisation” of the term genocide.
The pontiff, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, usually remains neutral in conflicts but has become increasingly outspoken about Israel’s war on Gaza. In book excerpts published last month, the pontiff said international experts said that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemns Pope’s Christmas address
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has condemned Pope Francis’s annual Christmas address to The Vatican today, in which he said the Israeli strike on Gaza on Friday that killed at least 25 people was “cruelty … not war”.
“In response to the Pope’s statement today: Cruelty is terrorists hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children; cruelty is holding 100 hostages for 442 days, including a baby and children, by terrorists and abusing them. Unfortunately, the Pope has chosen to ignore all of this,” the ministry wrote on X.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,227 Palestinians and wounded 107,573 since October 7, 2023.
More on the pope’s Christmas remarks on Gaza
In addition to criticising Israel’s attacks on Gaza as “cruelty”, Pope Francis also said Israeli authorities had refused to allow the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem to enter the war-torn enclave “as had been promised”.
The Israeli military, however, said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa’s entry had been approved and he would enter Gaza on Sunday, barring any major security issues. Cardinal Pizzaballa had last visited Gaza in May this year, in what he described as a pastoral visit to the parish of the Holy Family.
Israeli authorities, who control all the entry points into Gaza, have denied people from entering and leaving the Strip, including journalists and human rights researchers.
‘Cruelty’: Pope doubles down on condemnation of Israeli attacks on Gaza
For the second time in as many days, Pope Francis has denounced the “cruelty” of the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
“And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty,” he said after his weekly Angelus prayer.
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