The pope’s call to investigate war crimes in Gaza highlights rising global scrutiny. But accountability remains elusive

As an Israeli airstrike killed at least 30 people in a northern Gaza residential block, Pope Francis called for an investigation into whether genocide is being carried out under the cover of war. The staggering death toll in Gaza – an estimated 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children – underscores the urgency of his call for accountability. While the pope has criticised Israel’s war before, this marks his first public call for a deeper investigation of the conflict ignited by Hamas’s 7 October attack last year that killed 1,200 people. Legal scrutiny of the conflict requires access to Gaza, which has been sealed off for 13 months in defiance of the the international court of justice’s calls to permit entry to investigate a “plausible genocide”.

The pope did not give a definitive judgment on whether the situation legally qualifies as the “crime of crimes”. Others, including noted scholars, have been less circumspect. A UN committee last week said that Israel’s actions in Gaza fit the definition of genocide, with widespread civilian deaths and harsh conditions deliberately forced on Palestinians. However, while the UN plainly stating its case might feel satisfying, it could backfire by further angering Israelis.