Pope’s Alleged Genocide Reference Sparks Controversy in Gaza Situation

Messy Dispute Emerges Over Pope’s Alleged Use of “Genocide” to Describe Gaza Events

VATICAN CITY, Nov 22 (Reuters) – A heated dispute erupted on Wednesday regarding whether Pope Francis had used the word “genocide” to describe the situation in Gaza, with Palestinians who met with him affirming that he did, while the Vatican denies it.

The conflicting accounts came to light at a press conference featuring 10 Palestinians who had held a meeting with the pope at his Vatican residence earlier that day. The meeting followed a separate one with Israeli relatives of hostages in Gaza.

Shireen Awwad Hilal, a teacher at the Bethlehem Bible College, claimed that when they shared the stories of families killed in Gaza, the pope mentioned “I see the genocide.” She emphasized, “It was very clear, the word genocide did not come from us. It came from His Holiness, Pope Francis.”

However, a statement sent by Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni refuted these claims, stating, “I am not aware that he (the pope) used such a word,” and adding that the pope’s words reflected the terrible situation in Gaza.

At the news conference, other participants confirmed that they had indeed heard the pope use the word genocide. “We were all there. We heard it and no one has a hearing problem,” Hilal insisted.

The participants also asserted that the pope was well-informed about the dire situation in Gaza, including the lack of water, medicine, and basic necessities.

The conflict in Gaza, which Israel claims is in response to an attack by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, has resulted in more than 14,000 Palestinian deaths, with approximately 40% being children, as reported by medical officials in Gaza and deemed reliable by the United Nations.

The Palestinians reported that the pope condemned Hamas’ actions as terrorism, quoting him as saying “terror should not justify terror” during their meeting.

Earlier that day, the pope had stated at his general audience that the situation had escalated beyond war to terrorism, and prayed that both sides would stop acting on their passionate impulses.

Israeli Ambassador to the Vatican Raphael Schutz refrained from commenting directly on the pope’s statement, but emphasized that there was a significant distinction between the actions of the two sides. He spoke at a news conference with Israeli families who had also met the pope, some of whom were unaware of the pope’s comments.

In the midst of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to allow for aid and hostage release, a group of Palestinians at the general audience held up images of bodies wrapped in white cloths and a sign that read “the Nakba continues,” referring to the historical displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s establishment.

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