After Israel panned him for 'double standards' following previous comments, pontiff doubles down and accuses IDF of gunning down children, bombing hospitals

Pope Francis doubled down Sunday on his condemnation of Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip, denouncing their “cruelty” for the second time in as many days despite Israel accusing him of “double standards”.

Pope Francis condemned the bombing of children in Gaza, calling it “cruelty,” following reports of an Israeli airstrike killing seven children. Israel accused the Pope of ignoring its fight against terrorism and displaying double standards.

Foreign Ministry calls remarks 'disappointing,' 'disconnected' from reality in latest tensions between Jerusalem and the Holy See

"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."

JERUSALEM – Israel accused Pope Francis of “double standards” on Dec 21 after he condemned the bombing of children in Gaza as “cruelty” following an air strike that killed seven children from one family.

Pope Francis reflected on the devastating consequences of the Gaza war in an address at the Vatican on Saturday, expressing deep sorrow over the bombing of children in the Gaza Strip the previous day.

Israel's Foreign Ministry swiped back at Pope Francis, whose Christmas address criticized Israeli airstrikes in Gaza as "cruelty."

Pope Francis on Saturday again condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.

Israel allows clerics to enter Gaza and 'works in cooperation with the Christian community to make it easier for the Christian population that remains in the Gaza Strip – including coordinating its removal from the Gaza Strip to a third country,