Pope Francis once again condemned Israel’s military actions in Gaza on Sunday, voicing his disapproval of the “cruelty” of the strikes for the second consecutive day. Addressing the crowd gathered at the Vatican, he said, “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 had made similar comments on Shabbos, leading to a strong response from Israel’s Foreign Ministry. A spokesperson from the Ministry expressed disappointment, stating that Pope Francis’ remarks were “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.”

The spokesperson further added, “Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people.” They also pointed out that “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.”

Pope Francis has repeatedly voiced strong criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. In November of the previous year, he came under fire from Jewish organizations after he appeared to equate both Israel and Hamas with “terrorism” following the brutal Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. At a general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the pope stated, “This is what wars do. But here we have gone beyond wars. This is not war. This is terrorism.”

Rav Dovid Lau, who was then the Chief Rabbi of Israel, wrote a letter to the pope, urging him to retract his statement. In September, Pope Francis condemned the deaths of children in Gaza due to Israeli strikes, casting doubt on whether Israel and Hamas were genuinely seeking to end their conflict. He expressed his thoughts saying, “sometimes I think it’s a war that is too much, too much.”

More recently, statements attributed to Pope Francis in a newly published book suggested that the international community should scrutinize whether Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza could be classified as genocide. Following criticism of these comments, the pope clarified that his words had been misunderstood and misinterpreted.

{Matzav.com}