The Vatican Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, assured that Israel's response to the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7
is disproportionate and called for stopping the "carnage"
in the Middle East.
"The Holy See has said it from the beginning: on the one hand,
a clear and unreserved condemnation
of what happened on October 7. But at the same time also a request that Israel's right to defense which was invoked to justify "This operation
is proportionate and certainly with 30,000 dead it is not
," Parolin denounced when participating in a meeting at the Vatican embassy in Italy on Tuesday night.
"There is a widespread voice that we cannot continue like this.
We need to find other ways to solve the problem of Gaza
, the problem of Palestine," he claimed.
In that context, he called to "not lose hope" for a solution to the conflict and stated: "Saint Augustine said that hope is based on indignation and courage,
I believe that we are all outraged
by what is happening, by
this carnage.
"But we must have the courage to move forward and not lose hope because, if we lose hope, we fold our arms."
Since the beginning of the Israeli reprisals against civilian and military targets,
the Vatican endorsed the right to defense but in proportion
to the attacks by Hamas, while
on the other hand the demand continues to reach the so-called "two-party" solution. States"
in the region in addition to the granting of a special status to Jerusalem, beyond Tel Aviv's refusal to stop its offensive.
Left-wing Israeli activists call for an end to war crimes in Rafah.
Photo: JACK GUEZ / AFP
The Hamas Ministry of Health announced this Wednesday that at least 28,576 people have died in the Gaza Strip, mostly women, adolescents and children, since the start of the war.
The balance includes 103 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, 68,291 people have been injured since October 7, according to the Ministry.
There are also repeated complaints from humanitarian organizations about Doctors Without Borders that life in Gaza takes place under inhumane conditions, with overcrowding, diseases, lack of drinking water and sanitation.
"Deplorable" words: the Israeli response
The Israeli embassy to the Holy See on Wednesday described Parolin's statements as "deplorable."
"It is a deplorable statement. Judging the legitimacy of a war without taking into account ALL (in capital letters) the relevant circumstances and data inevitably leads to
wrong conclusions
," criticized the legation in a statement.
In this sense, the embassy noted that Gaza was transformed by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas into
"the largest terrorist base ever seen"
and that "a large part of its project has been the construction of an unprecedented infrastructure
actively supported by the civilian population "
.
Displaced Palestinians live in tents in Rafah.
Photo: SAID KHATIB / AFP
Regarding the response by the Israeli Army, he maintained that it took place
"with full respect for international law"
and that, "according to available data, for every Hamas militant killed, three civilians have lost their lives."
"It is not enough to condemn the genocidal massacre of October 7 and then point the finger at Israel by referring to its right to existence and self-defense only as a simple due act and not considering the bigger picture," the embassy concluded. .
Parolín made these statements to the press at the commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the Lateran Pacts with Italy, which made the Vatican an independent country, with the presence of the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, among other authorities.
The editorial of L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano,
the newspaper that reflects the official position of the Vatican,
affirms this Wednesday in a front-page editorial that for the Vatican the right to defense does not justify a massacre like the one that is happening in Gaza.
"For the Holy See,
choosing a side is always that of the victim
. And this counts for both the Israelis massacred in their kibbutz homes as they prepared to celebrate Simchat Torah day and the hostages taken from their families, as for the innocent civilians (
a third of whom are small children
) killed in the bombings in Gaza," the newspaper states.
"No one can define what is happening in the Strip as
'collateral damage' of the fight against terrorism.
Israel must bring to justice those responsible for the October massacre and
cannot justify this massacre
," the newspaper adds, after the words of Cardinal Parolin.
With information from Ansa and EFE