Dispute over "genocide" term following Palestinian families' meeting with Pope Francis

Pope Francis has met with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war on November 22 in Vatican City.

As reported by the Vatican News platform, the leader of the Christian Church referred to the current cycle of conflict between Israel and Hamas as going "beyond war" and said "this is terrorism", asking for an end to hostilities. 

Francis met with relatives of some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and separately with a delegation of Palestinians with family in Gaza. The event had been organized before the announcement of a truce between the two sides, which will take effect starting from November 23 for a period of four days.

The Pope also asked for God to help both Israeli and Palestinian people “resolve problems and not go ahead with passions that are killing everyone in the end”.

According to Reuters, a messy dispute broke out following the meeting with the Palestinian familiesover whether Pope Francis used the word "genocide" to describe the current events in Gaza. The Palestinians who met with him told journalists after the meeting that his Holiness did reply "I see the genocide" when being shown pictures of the destruction in Gaza. Nevertheless, the Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni denied this, stating that he used general terms that represent the terrible situation that is being lived out in Gaza, yet not the debated word.