Pope Francis raises for the first time the accusations of “genocide” in Gaza targeting Israel, in a forthcoming book, extracts of which were published on Sunday in Italy. “According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide. It would be appropriate to study this carefully in order to determine whether (the situation) corresponds to the technical definition formulated by jurists and international organizations,” said the Pope.
These words are taken from Francis’ new book, Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better worldto be published Tuesday in Italy, Spain and South America, and whose daily The Press published extracts on Sunday.
A first for the pope
The sovereign pontiff regularly refers to the extermination of Jews during the Second World War, to the “genocide” of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, of Tutsis in Rwanda or of 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.
The Israeli embassy to the Holy See reacted on Sunday afternoon on its X account, indicating that the country had launched a “self-defense” offensive in Gaza in retaliation for “the genocidal massacre of Israeli citizens” by Hamas. on October 7, 2023. “Any attempt to call this self-defense by another name amounts to isolating the Jewish state,” wrote the Israeli diplomatic representation.
Methods corresponding to “the characteristics of a genocide”
On Thursday, a special United Nations committee released a report in which it found that the methods of warfare employed by Israel “meet the characteristics of 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.
And 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.
Nearly 44,000 dead in Gaza
Israeli operations in the Palestinian territory left 43,846 dead, mostly civilians, according to the latest Hamas report 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 of them civilians, according to a count based on official figures and including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip. .
Pope 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.
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