Israeli envoy rejects pope’s call to examine if ‘genocide’ occurring in Gaza

Pope Francis presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on November 17, 2024. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Francis presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on November 17, 2024. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)

Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican rejects Pope Francis suggesting the global community should study whether Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people, saying that the only act of genocide was Hamas’s massacre of Israelis.

In excerpts published on Sunday from a forthcoming book, the pontiff said some international experts say that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”

“Following today’s report in Vatican News: There was a genocidal massacre on 7 October 2023 of Israeli citizens, and since then, Israel has exercised its right of self-defense against attempts from seven different fronts to kill its citizens,” says Yaron Sideman, ambassador to the Holy See.

“Any attempt to call it by any other name is singling out the Jewish state,” he posts on social media.

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