For second time in as many days, pope accuses Israel of ‘cruelty’ over Gaza strikes

Pope Francis doubles down on his condemnation of Israel’s strikes in 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 says after his weekly Angelus prayer.

It is unclear which specific alleged incidents he is referring to. Israel has long said it only targets terrorists and that Hamas hides among civilians.

After the pontiff accused Israel of “cruelty” yesterday Israel’s Foreign Ministry panned his remarks, saying that they 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.

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

The war in Gaza was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages as thousands of Hamas-led terrorists rampaged across Israel’s Gaza border communities.

Referring to the pope’s accusation of “cruelty,” the Foreign Ministry statement rebutted 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.”

“Unfortunately, the Pope has chosen to ignore all of this,” the ministry said.

The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently been more outspoken about Israel’s military campaign against the Hamas terror group.