Pope Francis clarified that the remarks attributed to him in excerpts from an upcoming book that “Israel should be investigated for genocide in Gaza” were taken out of context, Ynet reported.

Speaking at a meeting with an interfaith delegation at the Vatican on Monday, he said: “I didn’t claim that Israel committed genocide. I was shown materials from the war, and I said that if this is true, then it needs to be investigated. I understand what is happening in Gaza. I think Hamas should no longer exist in the world but the war should also not be prolonged.”

One of the members of the delegation, former Chief Rabbi of Guatemala Rabbi Yosef Garmon, who served as a tank commander in the 9026 Battalion in fighting in Gaza and the north, said to the Pope: “You cannot say that Israel must be investigated for genocide.”

“Look at my fellow soldiers who died from our unit,” Rabbi Garmon continued. “They died because we entered Gaza only to search for the terrorists and to protect the innocent. Israel also protects the Palestinians and liberates them from Hamas. Any other country would bomb them from the air and eliminate this threat in one day. Israel has the capability to end the war in one day and erase Gaza entirely, but it did not act that way and risked its soldiers to prevent the killing of innocents. You should investigate those who call to investigate Israel – not the other way around.”

Druze religious leaders from Hurfeish, a Druze town in northern Israel, were also part of the delegation. They told the Pope that the Druze community in Israel suffers from terrorism and recounted the story of the 12 children killed in Majdal Shams in the northern Golan by a Hezbollah rocket.

Pope Francis repeated that his words were taken out of context. He also claimed that Palestinians constantly send him material about the war but Israel does not.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)