Pope Francis denounces ‘ugly’ Israeli killing of Palestinian children in Gaza

Pope Francis has denounced the “ugly” killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, by Israel in the Gaza Strip, expressing doubt that the regime wants to end its nearly one-year genocidal war on the besieged enclave.

The Pope made the remarks in a press conference aboard his flight back to Rome from Singapore on Friday, after the Israeli military once again bombed a school affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza, alleging that members of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas were there.

“When you see the bodies of killed children when you see that, under the presumption that some guerrillas are there, a school is bombed, this is ugly,” he said. “It is ugly.”

The 87-year-old pontiff also voiced skepticism over Israel’s desire to end its brutal war, saying neither Tel Aviv nor Hamas are taking steps “to make peace.”

OIC denounces deliberate Israeli targeting of displaced Gazans in UNRWA schools

The OIC strongly condemns the deliberate Israeli targeting of displaced people at schools affiliated with the UN Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, in the Gaza Strip.

At least 18 people, including six UNRWA staff members, were killed on Wednesday when Israeli forces bombed al-Jaouni school in central Gaza.

Witnesses said the attack on the school-turned-shelter tore women and children to pieces, while UNRWA said the casualties among its staff amounted to the “highest death toll” in a single incident in the 11-month war.

The Israeli military claimed that the school had been used by members of the Hamas resistance group to “plan and execute” attacks against the occupation troops.

The al-Jaouni school is home to some 12,000 displaced Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the UN. It has been hit five times since the start of the war in Gaza.

Schools in the Gaza Strip have been used to shelter nearly two million displaced Palestinians since Israel launched its campaign of death and destruction in Gaza in early October last year.

Israel bombed 16 schools in Gaza in one month: Rights group

The human rights monitor, Euro-Med, says Israel has bombed at least 16 schools used as shelters in one month.

On Sunday, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said it has documented a dangerous escalation in Israel's systematic policy of targeting schools that have been turned into shelters for displaced civilians across Gaza.

The human rights group said in a statement that since the beginning of August, Israel has bombed 16 schools used as shelters in the Gaza Strip, killing 217 Palestinians and injuring hundreds – many of them women and children.

Israel unleashed its brutal war on Gaza on October 7 last year after Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 41,182 Palestinians and injured nearly 95,280 others, with most of the victims being women and children. 

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