VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Israel protested with the Vatican on Wednesday after Pope Francis' deputy defined what is happening in Gaza as "carnage" resulting from a disproportionate Israeli military response to Hamas.
A day earlier, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin reiterated the "request that Israel's right to defence, which has been invoked to justify this operation, be proportional, and certainly with 30,000 deaths, it is not."
Photos You Should See View All 22 Images"No one can define what is happening in the (Gaza) Strip as 'collateral damage' in the fight against terrorism.
The right to defence, Israel's right to bring the perpetrators of the October massacre to justice, cannot justify this carnage," it said.
At least 28,576 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli strikes, the health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday.
Persons:
Pope Francis, Pietro Parolin, Parolin, L'Osservatore Romano, Francis, Alvise, Jonathan Oatis
Organizations:
VATICAN CITY
Locations:
Israel, Gaza, Palestine