Pope Francis doubles down on his condemnation of Israeli strikes on Gaza
"This is cruelty, this is not war," the pope tells members of the government of the Holy See.
Pope Francis takes part in an audience to the pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on December 19, 2024. / Photo: AFP
Pope Francis has doubled down on his condemnation of Israel's strikes on Gaza, denouncing their "cruelty" for the second time in as many days despite Israel accusing him of "double standards".
"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," the pope said after his weekly Angelus prayer on Sunday.
It comes a day after the 88-year-old Argentine lamented an Israeli air strike that killed seven children from one family on Friday, according to Gaza's rescue agency.
"Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war," the pope told members of the government of the Holy See.
His remarks on Saturday prompted a sharp response from Israel.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman described Francis's intervention as "particularly disappointing", calling it disconnected from the "true and factual context" of Israel's war.
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