VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis for the first time tackled claims of Israel’s ongoing “genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza in extracts from a forthcoming book published Sunday, urging further investigation into whether Israel’s actions meet the definition.

Titled “Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World”, the book includes his latest and most forthright intervention into the more than year-long war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide,” the pontiff wrote in extracts published on the front of Italy’s La Stampa daily on Sunday.

“It should be studied carefully to determine whether (the situation) corresponds to the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he added.

The Argentine pontiff has frequently deplored the number of victims of Israel’s operations in Gaza, with the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry putting the toll at least 43,846 people, most of them civilians.—AFP