Pope Francis intensified his criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza on Thursday, condemning the “very serious and shameful” humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Palestinian enclave.
In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.
Bombing Not Acceptable
“We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians,” the text said.
“We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country’s energy network has been hit,” the Pope added.
The Pope was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.
The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope’s ‘state of the world’ speech.
The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.
Diplomacy Of Hope
In his ‘state of the world’ address, Pope Francis called for diplomacy of hope based on truth, forgiveness, freedom, and injustice.
Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But Pope Francis has recently been more outspoken about Israel’s military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
He has suggested that the global community study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.
The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign aimed at eliminating Hamas, has killed more than 45,000 people, mostly civilians, said authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
The campaign has displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins.
(With inputs from Reuters)
