Pope Francis: A Voice of Truth in a Time of War

The late Pope Francis took important and honorable positions during the ongoing Israeli war of extermination and aggression against the Palestinian people. He had called on numerous occasions and meetings to stop the war and allow humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip. He also supported a just peace in Palestine based on the two-state solution, describing what was happening in the Gaza Strip as very dangerous. He renewed his calls on numerous occasions to stop the Israeli war of extermination that has been ongoing for more than 15 months. In excerpts from a book published in December of last year, the Pope said that some international experts had said that "what is happening in Gaza bears the characteristics of genocide," adding, "Children have been bombed. This is cruel. This is not war."

The Vatican has repeatedly expressed its rejection of US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza and "seize" the territory, stressing that Palestinians must be allowed to remain on their land, adding, "No to displacement. Everyone who was born and lived in Gaza must remain on their land." It noted that "the US president's plan to seize the Gaza Strip is illogical," and that Palestinians should not be displaced because this would create tensions in the region. The Vatican has called for the establishment of a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The late Pope Francis criticized the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, describing the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave as "grave and deeply shameful." In his annual address to diplomats, delivered by an aide, Francis appeared to be referring to the deaths caused by the winter cold in Gaza, where there is virtually no electricity, adding, "We cannot accept that children freeze to death because hospitals are destroyed or the power grid is bombed." As the leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church, the Pope is usually cautious about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently become more outspoken regarding Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

The extremist occupation government attacked the Pope, harshly criticizing his comments, claiming that the Pope's statements amounted to "disparaging" the term genocide. Israel, meanwhile, accused the late Pope of double standards after the pontiff condemned the bombing of children in Gaza, describing it as "barbaric," following an Israeli airstrike on the enclave that killed seven children from one family. The Israeli Foreign Ministry in the extremist occupation government said in a statement that the Pope's statements were particularly disappointing because they were disconnected from the real and realistic context.

Pope Francis passed away at a time when the occupying government continues its war in the West Bank and threatens to continue the war in the Gaza Strip, disregarding all international appeals, continuing to carry out brutal and bloody massacres, preventing the delivery of aid, and using starvation as a weapon in its war against the Palestinian people, who are demanding their just and legitimate rights.

While the entire world is calling for an end to the massacres and the importance of continuing the calm and respecting the ceasefire, the far-right occupation government is practicing ethnic cleansing and committing massacres by bombing Tulkarm and Jenin camps and its encampment, exterminating dozens of families and children in organized state terrorism and an extension of the war of ethnic cleansing and genocide targeting the Palestinian existence.