Jewish groups criticized Pope Francis over his statements that the Israel-Hamas conflict has moved beyond war to terrorism.
“The pope publicly accused both parties of terrorism,” the Assembly of Italian Rabbis said on Thursday, according to Italian news reports.
“These stances at the highest level follow problematic statements by distinguished members of the Church in which either there is no trace of condemnation of Hamas aggression — or, in the name of supposed impartiality, they equate aggressor and aggressed,” they added.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis met with two delegations — one of Israeli families of hostages held by Hamas, and the other of Palestinians from Gaza with relatives in Israeli prisons. Shortly after, he called on people to pray for both sides, as both are suffering.
“This is what wars do,” the pope warned. “But here, we have gone beyond wars. This is not war. This is terrorism.”
The American Jewish Committee criticized the pope’s comments for not drawing a sufficient distinction between Hamas and Israel. “Vatican, please clarify,” they said on Wednesday.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi came to the pope’s defense on Thursday. “The Pope is careful — and look, this does not mean putting everyone on the same level,” he said.
The controversy comes after the militant branch of Hamas, a Palestinian group that also has a political party, attacked Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 and taking more than 200 hostages to Gaza. Israel retaliated with a “complete siege” of Gaza, including daily airstrikes that have killed at least 11,000 Palestinians — including more than 4,500 children — and injured tens of thousands of others, according to the Palestinian Authority.