CNN
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Pope Francis said allegations of genocide in Gaza should be “thoroughly investigated”, in one of his most vocal criticisms yet of the war between Israel and Hamas.

“According to some experts…what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide,” Vatican News, the Holy See’s official media outlet, quoted the pontiff as writing in a forthcoming book. “It should be studied carefully to determine whether it corresponds to the technical definition formulated by lawyers and international organizations. »

Speaking of the refugees, the pope said: “I think above all of those who are leaving Gaza in the midst of the famine that is hitting their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” according to Vatican News.

With a few exceptions, most residents of Gaza have been unable to leave the territory since the start of the war, but almost the entire population, more than 2 million people, has been displaced. interior of the territory.

The excerpts are taken from the book “Hope Never Disappoints: Pilgrims Towards a Better World”, which is scheduled for release on November 19.

In response to the Vatican News report, Yaron SidemanIsraeli ambassador to the Holy See, said “there was a genocidal massacre of Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023,” referring to the Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others as hostages.

“Since then, Israel has exercised its right of self-defense against attempts on seven different fronts to kill its citizens,” Sideman wrote on X. “Any attempt to call it by any other name targets the Jewish state. »

The 87-year-old pontiff is the latest among a growing number of international figures and organizations to characterize the Israeli military operation in Gaza as a potential genocide.

Israel faces a case brought by South Africa before the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) in which Pretoria accuses the Jewish state of genocide, saying Israeli leaders are “the intention to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza.”

Israel earlier this year rejected what he called the “grossly distorted” genocide charge brought against it by South Africa, arguing before the ICJ that its war is being fought in self-defense against Hamas and that it targeted the militant group rather than the Palestinians in their together.

A report from the UN Special Committee released Thursday said Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza “is consistent with the characteristics of genocide”, including massive civilian casualties and the use of starvation as a weapon.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last week, Israel accused to carry out genocide in Gaza, in one of his most vocal criticisms of the country since the war began last year. The Gulf Arab state was on the verge of normalizing relations with Israel before the October 7 war.

Pope Francis rarely comments on politics, often limiting his remarks to calls for peace. In March, he reiterated his call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in his traditional Easter message to the Vatican, condemning the war as an “absurdity”.

He called for an “immediate ceasefire”, access to humanitarian aid in Gaza and the “rapid release of hostages”.

In December 2023, the Pope addressed the deaths of two women killed by an Israeli sniper inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza. He lamented that “unarmed civilians are being bombed and shot at” in Gaza and invoked scriptures on war.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, and razed large swathes of the territory, triggering a humanitarian crisis.