A note published on the website of Vatican News indicates that the Supreme Pontiff refers to this issue in the volume ‘Hope Never Disappoints’, which will be officially published next Tuesday on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Catholic Church in 2025, of which fragments of its contents have already been disclosed.

In this document, Francis expresses that ‘according to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide’, and adds that ‘we should carefully investigate to determine if it conforms to the technical definition formulated by jurists and international organizations’.

A report published on the website of the RAI News television channel reports that these words of the Pope generated the recognition of the Palestinian community in Italy, and quotes one of its leaders, Yousef Salman, who thanked him for his concern for the long suffering of his people and the atrocities of Israel in the Middle East.

In his statements, Salman highlighted the position of the Bishop of Rome in favor of the recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the creation of their free and independent State, and his declarations against Tel Aviv’s attacks against the Strip, which have already caused the death of more than 43,000 people.

For its part, the Israeli embassy to the Holy See published on the social network X a message criticizing the Pontiff’s reference to genocide in Gaza, and justifying as ‘self-defense’ the indiscriminate bombings against that area, while arguing that to call them by any other name ‘means isolating the Jewish State’.

For his part, Angelo Bonelli, spokesman for the Green Europe party, expressed that Pope Francis’ request should be supported, since the Israeli bombings destroyed schools, hospitals, refugee camps and water supply systems, in addition to the fact that most of the more than 40,000 deceased are women and children.

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