Did the Pope call the war in Gaza a ‘genocide’?

Pope Francis on Wednesday met separately with Palestinians, and Israeli relatives of captives in Gaza.

Shireen Awwad Hilal said the religious leader used the term genocide during a meeting with a delegation of Palestinians with relatives in Gaza, Reuters reported.

“When we shared the stories of the families that have been killed [in Gaza] he mentioned ‘I see the genocide’,” said 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 a question texted by a reporter, said the opposite.

“I am not aware that he [the Pope] used such a word. He used terms that he expressed during the general audience and words that in any case represent the terrible situation that is being lived out in Gaza,” Bruni’s statement said.

Other participants at the news conference for Palestinians concurred that they had heard the Pope use the word genocide.