Pope Francis doubles down on condemnation of Israel's ‘cruelty’ in Gaza

For the second time in the last couple of days, Pope Francis condemned Israel's actions in Gaza during his official remarks. 

During his weekly Angelus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis accused Israel of “cruelty” regarding its treatment of Gazans. 

“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. 

It was unclear which specific events the Pope was referring to, although Palestinian social media accounts associated with terror groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad regularly post about Israeli attacks in Gaza without positioning them within the context of the ongoing war effort against Hamas. 

On Saturday, while speaking to members of government and the Holy See, the Pope also accused Israel of cruelty, saying, “Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war.” 

The Pope’s comments on Saturday drew a sharp response from the foreign ministry. 

“Cruelty is when terrorists hide behind children while attempting to murder Israeli children; cruelty is when 100 hostages, including a baby and children, are held and mistreated by terrorists for 442 days,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said. “Unfortunately, the Pope has chosen to ignore all of this.” 

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said that Pope Francis’ comments 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.”

“Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people,” he added. 

A military spokesman told French news agency AFP that it was not clear which incident the pope was referring to when saying that children were bombed. 

The IDF told AFP that it struck “several terrorists who were operating in a military structure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization and posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area.” 

It also said “the reported number of casualties resulting from the strike does not align with the information” available to the military. 

While the Pope has consistently called for peace and a ceasefire, as he did during the Sunday prayer, his tone towards Israel has grown increasingly critical in recent weeks. 

In November, the Pope also appeared to accuse Israel of genocide. In a book excerpt, he stated that some international experts claim that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.” 

In an official letter to Middle Eastern Catholics, sent on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks, Pope Francis did not mention Hamas by name or even make explicit reference to the massacres and atrocities committed by the terror group. 

The Vatican received negative press recently after a nativity scene, created by Palestinian artists was displayed in Rome showing baby Jesus lying in a manger on top of a Palestinian keffiyeh. 

In the past few years, several pro-Palestinian activists have proclaimed that Jesus was actually Palestinian, despite biblical narratives clearly calling him a Jew. 

Pope Francis also accused Israel of preventing the Catholic Bishop of Jerusalem from entering Gaza during his statements on Saturday. The IDF requires all NGOs and aid organizations to arrange visits to Gaza through them. It is not clear if the bishop was denied entry, or had not yet received authorization. 

However, on Sunday, the IDF allowed Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, to enter Gaza and celebrate a pre-Christmas Mass with members of the Strip’s small Christian community.