2023-11-30T14:09:58+00:00
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/ The American newspaper “The Washington Post” revealed the details of a “charged” non-public phone call that took place recently between Pope Francis and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, during which they discussed the war in Gaza.
The newspaper quoted a senior Israeli official familiar with the call, which was not previously reported, as saying that Pope Francis stressed to Herzog that “it is forbidden to respond to horror with horror.”
The newspaper said that the Israeli official spoke on condition of anonymity while discussing a sensitive issue, noting that the Pope’s words came in response to the speech of the Israeli president, who was describing the horror that befell his country from the Hamas attack on October 7 during the call.
The newspaper indicated that Herzog reiterated his country’s position that the Israeli government is doing what is required in Gaza to defend its people, but the Pope informed him that “those responsible for this should actually be held accountable, not civilians.”
Given the “tension” contained in the call, Israel did not announce its occurrence, according to the newspaper, which indicated that the implicit meaning was clear in the Pope’s statements and his description of the Israeli campaign in Gaza “as an act of terrorism.”
A spokesman for the Israeli President’s Office refused to comment on the content of the phone call, saying only: “We are not inclined to refer to private conversations.”
The Pope had previously sparked controversy in a public speech he made in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on the 22nd of this month when he said: “This is what wars do, but we have overcome wars. This is not war, it is terrorism,” without specifying whether he was referring to the attack. launched by Hamas or the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip in response to that attack, or both.
The Vatican refused to clarify whether the Pope described the Israeli operations in Gaza publicly or secretly as “terrorism,” but it stated in a statement to the Washington Post that the call with the Israeli president did take place.
The statement said, “The phone call, like others, takes place in the context of the Pope’s efforts to contain the seriousness and scope of the conflict situation in the Holy Land.”
Also on November 22, the Pope held two separate meetings: the first with relatives of people killed in Gaza and the other with the families of hostages held by Hamas.
The newspaper quotes Palestinian professor Sherine Hilal, who lost two members of her family, saying that the Pope cried during the meeting with the Palestinians, while they were talking about the huge death toll.
She and others in the audience said that the Pope used the word “genocide” in English, adding, “He knew exactly what was happening, and how difficult it was to live in Gaza.”
A Vatican spokesman confirmed to reporters after the meeting that the Pope, to his knowledge, did not say the word “genocide,” but did not categorically rule it out.
It is noteworthy that the Pope warned on more than one occasion of the seriousness of the suffering in Gaza and called for sending more humanitarian aid and a permanent ceasefire.
The Vatican says the Pope also maintains daily contact with the Catholic Church in Gaza, which is home to 700 Palestinians.
The war broke out between Israel and Hamas following an unprecedented attack launched by the movement on southern Israel on October 7, which led to the killing of about 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, most of whom died on the first day of the attack, according to the Israeli authorities.
Hamas and other Palestinian factions kidnapped 240 people, Israelis and foreigners, in that attack.
Since then, Israel has responded with a devastating bombing of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 15,000 people, including 5,840 children, according to the Hamas government.
About a week ago, it was announced that a truce agreement had been reached between Israel and Hamas, with Qatari mediation, according to which a number of hostages were released, while Israel released Palestinian detainees in return.