Pope Francis requires investigation into Israel’s attainable ‘genocide’ in Gaza
Pope Francis wants an investigation into whether Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide, according to excerpts from a new book based upon interviews with the pontiff.
Set to be published Tuesday, ahead of the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, the book is titled “Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Toward a Better World.” It will be released first in Latin America, Spain and Italy and then in other parts of the globe.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pontiff said in excerpts published by the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa, the Associated Press reported.
“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” Francis added.
This marks the first time the pope has openly urged for an investigation into Israel’s wartime actions in Gaza or broached the word “genocide,” a term coined specifically with reference to Nazi Germany’s attempts in the Holocaust to kill every Jew in Europe.
In September, Francis criticized Israel’s counteroffensive against Iran-backed terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah as “immoral” and “disproportionate,” and said Israel’s military had gone beyond the rules of war.
The conflict began after Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel, in which the Islamist terror group killed more than 1,200 civilians and took roughly 250 hostages to Gaza. Israel’s military response has, in turn, killed over 43,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, who maintain that the majority of the dead are women and children.
The numbers have fueled accusations and denials of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Vatican News also reported that one passage in the new book sees the Pope mention Palestinian refugees, for whom the “open doors” of the Middle East in Jordan and Lebanon act as “salvation.”
“I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” he wrote, according to the Catholic news site.
Pope Francis’ comments add to his history of using stark language when discussing the Israel-Hamas conflict. The new book also reportedly addresses the war in Ukraine, with the pope warning against restrictive laws that he says are driven by fear and calling for global cooperation instead.
The book is published by Edizioni Piemme, and written by Hernan Reyes Alcaide.
Last week, the pope met with a delegation of released Israeli hostages, and urged Hamas to return the remaining captives.
