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.
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.
On Friday they did not allow the Patriarch of Jerusalem into Gaza as promised. Children were bombed. That was cruelty, not war,’ Pope Francis told members of the government of the Holy See.
‘I want to say it because it touches my heart.’
Francis, 88, has called for peace since Hamas’s unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza.
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.
In extracts from a forthcoming book published in November, he called for a ‘careful’ study as to whether the situation in Gaza ‘corresponds to the technical definition’ of genocide, an accusation firmly rejected by Israel.
The Holy See has recognised the State of Palestine since 2013, with which it maintains diplomatic relations, and it supports the two-state solution.
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 Palestinian militants.
The Israeli military told AFP it had struck ‘several terrorists who were operating in a military structure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation and posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area’.
‘According to an initial examination, the reported number of casualties resulting from the strike does not align with the information held by the IDF,’ it added.
