Pope Francis (Wikipedia)
Pope Francis has now gotten involved in Israel’s Iron Swords War against the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. The pope issued a statement condemning the killing of a mother and daughter shot in a Gaza church compound.
The Greek Orthodox Jerusalem Patriarchate claimed that Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter, Samar Kamal Anton, were killed by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Sniper while looking for shelter at the Sister’s Convent at the Holy Family Parish.
The report, however, was not independently verified and the IDF denied it committed the attack.
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In a statement the IDF declared that it “does not target civilians, no matter their religion,” and that it has had “no reports of a hit on the church, nor civilians being injured or killed.”
“A review of the IDF’s operational findings support this,” added the IDF. “The IDF takes claims regarding harm to sensitive sites with the utmost seriousness — especially churches — considering that Christian communities are a minority group in the Middle East.”
But this did not stop Pope Francis from issuing his statement in which the Pope took for granted that Israeli forces were responsible for the killing of the two people, even in the absence of any proof that they were killed.
“Let us not forget our brothers and sisters suffering from war, in Ukraine, in Palestine and Israel, and in other conflict zones,” said Pope Francis. “May the approach of Christmas strengthen the commitment to open paths of peace.”
The Pope acknowledged that Israel is at war, but called for restraint, claiming that in Gaza “unarmed civilians are the targets of bombings and gunfire.”
“Some say, ‘This is terrorism. This is war.’ Yes, it is war. It is terrorism,” he said. “That is why the Scripture affirms that ‘God stops wars… breaks the bow, splinters the spear’ (Psalm 46:10). Let us pray to the Lord for peace.”
This is not the first time since the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that the IDF has been falsely accused of such things.
In October, international media took for granted Hamas’ reports that an explosion at Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza was caused by the direct hit of an IDF bomb and that hundreds were killed and wounded. But it was proven that the explosion came from outside the hospital, was caused when explosives stored their ignited and not by an IDF attack, and that few people were actually harmed.
