Pope Francis calls for investigation into 'genocide' allegations

 Friday, December 20, 2024

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Dec, 2024 ) An Israeli minister has condemned the statement of Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of Catholic Christians, in which the Pope said that the international community should examine in detail whether the actions of the Israeli army in Gaza fall into the category of genocide. In an open letter published in an Italian newspaper, Minister for Israelis Abroad Amichai Chekli interpreted the Pope’s position as limiting the true meaning of the word ‘genocide’.

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The Israeli minister further wrote in his letter, “As a nation that lost six million of its sons and daughters in the Holocaust, we are sensitive about limiting the meaning of genocide.

This is dangerously close to denying the Holocaust,” Checkley concluded, “Please clarify your position on this accusation of genocide against the Jewish state (Israel) by the Pope.”

The Vatican has not yet responded.

Israel says the accusations of genocide in Gaza are baseless and that it is only targeting fighters from the Palestinian organization Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups.

Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, and the Christian church as a whole generally avoids supporting any side in armed conflicts. However, in recent days, the Pope has begun to criticize the actions of the Israeli military.

The Israeli minister’s open letter in response to the Pope’s statement is an excerpt from a draft of a book.

The Italian newspaper 'La Stampa' published some parts of the book, and the Pope wrote in it, quoting international experts, that what is happening in Gaza falls into the category of genocide.

It should be noted that on October 7, 2023, the Palestinian organization Hamas carried out a terrorist attack on Israel. 1,208 people were killed in this attack, most of them civilians. Hamas fighters also took about 250 Israelis hostage, dozens of whom are still in Hamas captivity.

Since then, at least 45,129 people have been killed and 107,000 injured in the Gaza Strip in the ongoing Israeli counter-attacks, the majority of whom are civilians.