Pope Francis
Pope FrancisReuters

Pope Francis on Sunday reiterated his condemnation of Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip, denouncing what he described the "cruelty" of the attacks for the second time in as many days, AFP reported.

"And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty," the pope said to those gathered at the Vatican.

Similar remarks made by the pope on Saturday were followed by criticism from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

A spokesperson said Pope Francis’ comments were "particularly disappointing as they are disconnected from the true and factual context of Israel's fight against jihadist terrorism -- a multi-front war that was forced upon it starting on October 7."

"Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people," the spokesperson added.

The Israeli added, "Cruelty is terrorists hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children; cruelty is holding 100 hostages for 442 days, including a baby and children, by terrorists and abusing them."

Pope Francis has continued to express increasingly pointed criticism of Israel's military actions in Gaza.

In November of last year, Jewish groups criticized Pope Francis after he appeared to accuse both Israel and Hamas of “terrorism” in the war that started after Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on October 7.

“This is what wars do,” the pope said at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square. “But here we have gone beyond wars. This is not war. This is terrorism.”

Rabbi David Lau, then the Chief Rabbi of Israel, later wrote a letter to Pope Francis in which he called on the Pontiff to retract his comments.

In September, the pope decried the deaths of children in Israeli military strikes in Gaza while expressing doubt that Israel and Hamas are seeking an end to the war between them.

He also said that "sometimes I think it's a war that is too much, too much".

More recently, remarks attributed to Francis in a newly released book suggested that the global community should examine whether Israel's ongoing campaign in Gaza could be classified as a genocide.

After being criticized for those remarks, the pope claimed that his words had been misunderstood and were taken out of context.