For the first time, the Pope Francis has directly responded to claims that Israel's military actions in Gaza are genocide. He pushed for proper investigation on whether or not Israel's actions constitute genocide as defined by legal experts and international bodies, he said in excerpts published on Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa. The book is by Hernan Reyes Alcaide, based on interviews with the Pope and will be released on Tuesday. It comes ahead of the Pope's 2025 yearlong jubilee, which is expected to draw over 30 million pilgrims to Rome for the celebrations.
Pope Call for Careful Examination
"According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide," the Pope wrote in excerpts published in Italy's La Stampa on Sunday. He said the situation needs to be very carefully assessed as to whether it fits the technical definition of genocide established by jurists and global institutions. The on-going confrontation has caused a lot of civilian casualties on the over-a-year-long conflict, which escalated on October 7, 2023. The health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, records at least 43,846 deaths, although most of them were non-combatants.
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Israel Response
Israel responded to the Pope’s statements, with Yaron Sideman. Israel's ambassador to the Vatican Yaron Sideman pointed to the October 7 massacre by Hamas as an act of genocide against Israeli citizens. “Israel has since exercised its right of self-defense,” the statement noted, calling any attempt to label Israel’s actions differently as unjustly singling out the Jewish state. The Pope's words follow an international scrutiny of the Israeli actions in Gaza. Recently, a United Nations Special Committee declared that Israel's warfare tactics in Gaza followed characteristics of genocide, accusing the country of using starvation as a weapon of war. Pope Francis has often spoken for peace and de-escalation in conflicts around the world. He has condemned Israel's airstrikes on Lebanon and lamented the death of Palestinian children in Gaza.
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