Israel's ambassador to the Vatican commented on the Pope's remarks on Gaza

Israeli Ambassador to the Vatican Yaron Zeidman on the words of Pope Francis on the investigation in the Gaza Strip said that his state on October 7, 2023 was a victim of genocide. This was reported by the Associated Press (AP) on November 18.

The conflict began over a fragment in the pontiff's new book: "according to some experts, what is happening in the Gaza Strip has the characteristics of genocide." The Pope stressed that what happened in Gaza "needs to be thoroughly investigated to determine whether there is compliance with the technical definition formulated by jurists and international organizations."

Israel's ambassador to the Vatican, for his part, wrote on the social network X (former Twitter) that the Hamas attack "involved a genocidal massacre of Israeli citizens."

Earlier, on November 16, Al Jazeera TV channel reported that more than 60 people were killed in a day as a result of the actions of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip.

Before that, on November 11, the participants of the second Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh - the Arab League (LAS) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) - demanded that the UN Security Council (UNSC) create a commission to investigate Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the LAS and the OIC demanded sanctions against Israel and accused the Israeli state of derailing peace talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. During the summit, it was decided to mobilize international support to suspend Israel's membership in the UN.

On the same day, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said at the opening of the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh that the Gaza Strip should return to the control of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). He also suggested that the UN Security Council should suspend Israel's membership in the organization. He called for "stopping settler terrorism" against the Palestinian people and "imposing sanctions on Israel."

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected Israel's territory to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Israel began retaliatory strikes the same day.

The Palestinians are trying to ensure that future borders between the two countries follow the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, with possible land swaps. Palestine wants to establish its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel refuses to return to the 1967 borders and divide Jerusalem.