Israel's embassy to the Holy See on
Sunday responded to Pope Francis's call for a probe into
possible Israeli 'genocide' in Gaza by saying that the Hamas
attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 had been
"genocidal slaughter" and that Tel Aviv had a right to defend
itself from such onslaughts by wiping out the threat from the
Islamist militants.
"On October 7, 2023, there was a genocidal massacre of Israeli
citizens and since then Israel has exercised its right to
self-defense against attempts from seven different fronts to
kill its citizens.
"Any attempt to call this self-defense by any other name means
isolating the Jewish State", the embassy said on X.
Francis calls for an international investigation into possible
genocide in Gaza in a book coming out Tuesday, excerpts of
which were published in La Stampa daily Sunday.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
