A messy dispute broke out on Wednesday over whether Pope Francis used the word "genocide" to describe events in Gaza.
Pope Francis © Mena Today
A messy dispute broke out on Wednesday over whether Pope Francis used the word "genocide" to describe events in Gaza, with Palestinians who met with him insisting that he did and the Vatican saying he did not.
The opposing versions emerged at an afternoon press conference with 10 Palestinians who met the pope on Wednesday morning at his Vatican residence. That meeting followed a separate one with Israeli relatives of hostages in Gaza.
"When we shared the stories of the families that have been killed (in Gaza) he mentioned 'I see the genocide'," said Shireen Awwad Hilal, who teaches at the Bethlehem Bible College.
"It was very clear, the word genocide did not come from us. It came from His Holiness, Pope Francis," she said.
But a statement sent by Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, in response to question texted by a reporter, said the opposite.
The Israeli military said seven soldiers were killed in a single attack in southern Gaza on Tuesday, the military's deadliest day in the territory since it broke a ceasefire with Hamas in March.
The ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump between Iran and Israel appeared to be holding on Wednesday a day after both countries signalled that their air war had ended, at least for now.
El Al Israel Airlines is working on an airlift to bring back to Israel tens of thousands of travellers stranded by widespread flight cancellations following the start of the Israel-Iran war on June 13, it said on Tuesday.
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