VATICAN, Dec 22 (Reuters): Pope Francis on Saturday again condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican's various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza.
"Yesterday, children were bombed," said the pope. "This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart."
The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In book excerpts published last month, the pontiff said some international experts said that "what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide".
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli sharply criticised those comments in an unusual open letter published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio on Friday. Chikli said the pope's remarks amounted to a "trivialisation" of the term genocide.
Israel's foreign ministry said that Israel was defending itself against the cruelty exemplified by Hamas militants "hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children," holding 100 hostages and abusing them.
"Unfortunately, the Pope has chosen to ignore all of this," the ministry said, adding that the "death of any innocent person in a war is a tragedy."
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