Pope slams 'cruelty' of strike killing Gaza children

Pope Francis on Saturday condemned the bombing of children in Gaza as "cruelty", a day after the territory's rescue agency said an Israeli air strike killed seven children from one family.

Gaza's civil defence rescue agency reported that an Israeli air strike killed 10 members of a family on Friday in the northern part of the territory, including seven children.

"Yesterday they did not allow the Patriarch (of Jerusalem) into Gaza as promised. Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war," he told members of the government of the Holy See.

Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,200 people, mostly women and children, since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.