Pope raises accusations of “genocide” in Gaza, calls for investigation

Pope Francis raises for the first time the accusations of “genocide” in Gaza targeting Israel, in a forthcoming book, extracts of which were published this Sunday, November 17 in Italy by the daily “La Stampa”. “According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide. This should be studied carefully to determine whether (the situation) corresponds to the technical definition formulated by lawyers and international bodies.believes the Pope.

These words are taken from Francis’ new book, “Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world »to be released Tuesday in Italy, Spain and South America. The sovereign pontiff regularly refers to the extermination of the Jews during the Second World War, “genocide” Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, Tutsis in Rwanda or Christians in the Middle East. He frequently deplores the civilian victims in Gaza but this is the first time that he publicly uses the term genocide – without, however, taking it upon himself – in the context of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory.

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UN report

On Thursday, a special United Nations committee released a report in which it found that the methods of warfare employed by Israel “correspond to the characteristics of a genocide”. The report of this special UN committee, created in 1968 and responsible for investigating Israeli practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, must be presented Monday to the UN General Assembly in New York. Its conclusions have already been condemned by the United States.

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This is not the first time that Israel has been the subject of such accusations since the war began more than a year ago. South Africa initiated proceedings to this effect before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and several countries, including Turkey, Spain and Mexico, joined in. Israeli operations in the Palestinian territory left 43,846 dead, mostly civilians, according to the latest report from Hamas released on Sunday. They intervene in retaliation for the massacre in Israel of 1,206 people committed by commandos of the Islamist movement on October 7, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures and including hostages who died or were killed in captivity. in the Gaza Strip.

Francis also often calls in his public statements for the return of all Israeli hostages. On Thursday, he received at the Vatican a group of 16 ex-hostages released after months of captivity in Gaza.