Pope slams 'cruelty' of strike killing Gaza children
- 13 hours ago
Pope Francis on Saturday condemned the bombing of children in Gaza as "cruelty," a day after the territory's rescue agency said an Israeli air strike killed seven children from one family.
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 killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza.
"Yesterday they did not allow the Patriarch (of Jerusalem) into Gaza as promised. Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war," he told members of the government of the Holy See. "I want to say it because it touches my heart."
The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Hamas.
In book excerpts published last month, the pontiff said some international experts said that "what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide."
Francis also said on Saturday that the Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, known as a patriarch, had tried to enter the Gaza Strip on Friday to visit Catholics there, but was denied entry. The patriarch's office told Reuters it was not able to comment on the pope's remarks about the patriarch being denied entry.
Gaza's civil defence rescue agency reported that an Israeli air strike killed 10 members of a family on Friday in the northern part of the territory, including seven children.
Violence in the Gaza Strip continues to rock the coastal territory more than 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war, even as international mediators work to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
In recent weeks he has hardened his remarks against the Israeli offensive. At the end of November, he said that "the invader's arrogance... prevails over dialogue" in "Palestine," a rare position that contrasts with the tradition of neutrality of the Holy See.
The Holy See has recognised the State of Palestine since 2013, with which it maintains diplomatic relations, and it supports the two-state solution.
Agencies
