Pope again condemns ‘cruelty’ of Israeli strikes on Gaza

AFP | Vatican City

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Pope Francis doubled down Sunday on his condemnation of Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip, 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.

It comes a day after the 88-yearold Argentine lamented an Israeli airstrike 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 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.

“Cruelty is terrorists hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children; cruelty is holding 100 hostages for 442 days, including a baby and children, by terrorists and abusing them,” the Israeli statement said.

This was a reference to the Hamas who attacked Israel, killed many civilians and took hostages on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza war.