Pope Francis of the Vatican again condemned on Saturday the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, a day after an Israeli minister publicly decried the Pope's call for the international community to investigate whether the military attack there constitutes genocide against the Palestinians.
The Pope began his annual Christmas speech to Catholic cardinals with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday.
The Pope said, "Yesterday, children were bombed. This is brutality. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.
In excerpts from a book published last December, the Pope stated that some international experts said, "What is happening in Gaza bears the characteristics of genocide.
Pope Francis noted that the Patriarch of Jerusalem for Latins attempted to enter Gaza yesterday to visit the Catholics there, but he was denied entry.