VATICAN CITY, Nov 22 (Reuters) - A messy dispute broke out on Wednesday over whether Pope Francis used the word "genocide" to describe events in Gaza, with Palestinians who met with him insisting that he did and the Vatican saying he did not. The opposing versions emerged at an afternoon press conference with 10 Palestinians who met the pope on Wednesday morning at his Vatican residence. It came from His Holiness, Pope Francis," she said. Other participants at the Palestinian news conference concurred that they had heard the pope use the word genocide. The participants said the pope was very informed about the situation in Gaza and the lack of water, medicine and basic necessities.

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Persons: Pope Francis, Shireen Awwad Hilal, Matteo Bruni, Hilal, Israel, Francis, Raphael Schutz, Schutz, Guglielmo Mangiapane, Janet Lawrence, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: CITY, Bethlehem Bible College, Vatican, Hamas, Handout, REUTERS Acquire, United Nations, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Israel's