The Jerusalem Post April 22, 2025
Criticizing Israel after October 7

Even after Hamas’s October 7 terror massacre, the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, Pope Francis condemned both sides in a manner that was troublingly lopsided.

While he did denounce Hamas’s initial slaughter, he quickly shifted to criticizing Israel’s military response as “cruelty, this is not war.”
He went so far as to call Israeli airstrikes “terrorism” after two Palestinian Christian women were killed in Gaza.

No mention was made, in those same statements,
1. of Hamas’s use of human shields,
2. its embedding in civilian infrastructure, or
3. its well-documented exploitation of churches and hospitals for military purposes.

As Israel’s campaign continued, the pope’s rhetoric intensified.
In November 2024 he openly questioned whether Israel’s military campaign constituted a genocide.