By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
VATICAN CITY/GAZA/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel lashed out at Pope Francis for condemning Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and suggesting the world should investigate whether Israel’s military offensive there constitutes a “genocide” after dozens of Palestinians, including children, allegedly died in weekend attacks.
Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican’s various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday that Hamas-backed medics said claimed killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza.
In one incident, an Israeli airstrike on a house in northern Gaza on Friday killed ten members of the same family, including seven children, according to the Hamad-run civil defense authority.
“The oldest of the seven children was just six years old,” a civil defense spokesperson said, adding that the strike also left fifteen people injured.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) disputed the figures, saying they “eliminated several terrorists operating within a military structure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization, which posed a threat to IDF forces active in the area.”
The IDF emphasized that it “adheres to international law,” but Pope Francis seemed to disagree. “Yesterday, children were bombed,” said the pope. “This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”
However, the Israel Foreign Ministry responded angrily, saying on social media platform X: “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.”
‘IGNORING FACTS’
In the statement monitored by Worthy News, the Israeli ministry added, “Unfortunately, the Pope has chosen to ignore all of this, as well as the fact that Israel’s actions have targeted terrorists who used children as human shields.”
The Foreign Ministry said that the remarks by the leader of some 1.4 billion Catholics “are particularly disappointing as they are disconnected from the true and factual context of Israel’s fight against jihadist terrorism — a multi-front war that was forced upon it starting on October 7.”
The ministry acknowledged that “The death of any innocent person in a war is a tragedy.” However, “Israel makes extraordinary efforts to prevent harm to innocents, while Hamas makes extraordinary efforts to increase harm to Palestinian civilians.”
The blame, it said, “should be directed solely at the terrorists, not at the democracy defending itself against them. Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people.”
The pope is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently been more outspoken about Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, the group that killed some 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023.
In recently published book excerpts, Pope Francis said some international experts said that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”
The Hamas-run health ministry says 45,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has a population of over two million people. Israel has given lower death tolls and says nearly half of those who died were Hamas fighters.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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