It is ironic that Pope Francis has again this week accused Israel of “cruelty” over its air strikes in Gaza which resulted in the deaths of civilians as well as combatants, and called on the international community to investigate whether they constitute a genocide of the Palestinian people. Israel, of course, has insisted, with compelling evidence, that they only target Hamas military sites and fighters and the civilian deaths that have occurred were occasioned by Hamas’s policy of locating their military sites and fighters in civilian areas and buildings.
Yet paradoxically, even as the Pope was delivering his calumnies, the Palestinian Authority, which of late has begun a crackdown on terrorists in the West Bank in order to present itself as an alternative to Hamas control of Gaza, confirmed Israel’s position. As reported by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), the PA has now revealed that Hamas continues to be headquartered in what was once the largest hospital in Southern Gaza.
Thus, the PA posted a formal summons issued by Hamas to a Gazan resident to report to Nasser Hospital, once the largest hospital in Gaza to be interrogated by Hamas’s military intelligence. The text, according to PMW, is as follows:
“State of Palestine
Ministry of Interior and National Security
Internal Security Force
SUMMONS
To Citizen: [ ]
Address: [ ]
Under the laws of the State of Palestine and in accordance with our vested authority, you are to report to:
Premises: Nasser Medical Center
Office: Public Relations
On: Wednesday
Date: 16 October 2024
At: 11:30 AM
Attendance is mandatory and legally binding
Bring your ID card or passport.”
It will be recalled, however, that soon after October 7, Israel was falsely accused of having committed war crime – targeting Gazan civilians when it fired on several hospitals in the course of its military pursuit of the Hamas. PMW particularly notes the World Health Organization’s proclaiming itself as being “appalled” by the Israeli operations despite all the damning proof of Hamas’ cynical exploitation of its citizens as human shields.
So, we got to wondering why Pope Francis continues to make accusations, while having little to say about the Hamas atrocities as having precipitated the Gaza war and Israel’s resolve to make sure Hamas was never able to perpetrate anything like it again. And what about Hamas’ continued war crime of using human beings it took hostage as bargaining chips? Shouldn’t that have been factored into the Popes calculus? Why didn’t he just call on Hamas to release the hostages – no ifs ands or buts. How can he countenance any notion of Hamas negotiating demands?
In fact, a letter he wrote to Middle Eastern Catholics on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack was particularly disturbing. As reported by The Times of Israel the letter never even mentioned Hamas by name or made explicit reference to its atrocities, including the hostages. The letter also quoted passages from the Gospel of St. John which disparage Jews and have historically been used to fuel religious antisemitism.
Pope Francis is not someone known for throwing words around and so we are concerned about what he is getting at. He seems to be dismissing Israel’s plan of action as immoral, yet accepting of Hamas’ plainly immoral use of human shields. If that is correct, then it follows that Pope Francis must believe that Israel is an “occupier” of someone else’s land and therefore doesn’t have an inherent, national right of self-defense.
As the leader of the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion adherents, Pope Francis is well aware of where words can take us. We hope he will soon reconsider those he himself has recently spoken.