It is the first time Francis has openly called for an investigation into allegations of genocide into Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon were “immoral” and disproportionate and that its army had exceeded the rules of war.

The book, by Hernán Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is entitled “Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims to a better world.” It will be released on Tuesday ahead of the Pope’s jubilee in 2025. Francis’ year-long jubilee is expected to bring more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year.

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the Pope said in an excerpt published Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa.

“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it falls within the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he added.

Last year, Francis met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and sparked a firestorm by using words Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide.”

Francis spoke at the time of the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israel-Hamas hostage deal and the temporary cessation of fighting was announced.

The pontiff had editorial control over the future book.

Israeli airstrikes kill ‘dozens’ in Gaza Strip

Meanwhile, a strike on a residential building in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza killed and wounded dozens, local media reported Sunday morning.

The strikes also killed six people in Nuseirat and another four in Bureij, two refugee camps built in central Gaza that date back to the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.

Two other people were also killed in a strike on Gaza’s main north-south highway, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, which received all 12 bodies.

Gaza’s health ministry says around 43,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but said women and children accounted for more than half of the deaths. About 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians has been displaced, and large areas of the territory have been flattened by Israeli bombardment and ground operations.

The war between Israel and Hamas began after Palestinian militants entered Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and kidnapping another 250. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be that they are dead.

Israeli air raids in Lebanon

In Lebanon, Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs after the army warned people to evacuate at least seven buildings. The militant group Hezbollah has a strong presence in the area, known as Dahiyeh, and the strikes came as Lebanese officials consider a proposed cease-fire brokered by the United States.

The Israeli military posted evacuation warnings on X about an hour before the strikes in south Beirut, which came early Sunday. Local media reported that church bells were ringing in and around the area to alert residents. No casualties were immediately reported.

The Israeli army on Sunday renewed calls for residents of more than a dozen villages in southern Lebanon to flee, as ground troops pushed further north.

Hezbollah began firing missiles, rockets and drones into Israel the day after the 2023 Hamas attack, prompting retaliatory airstrikes. The conflict steadily escalated and erupted into all-out war in September. Israeli forces invaded Lebanon on 1 October.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and more than 1.2 million have been driven from their homes. It is not known how many of the dead are Hezbollah fighters.

On the Israeli side, Hezbollah airstrikes have killed at least 76 people, including 31 soldiers, and caused an estimated 60,000 people to flee northern communities.

The residence of the Israeli prime minister was attacked with fire rockets

Israeli police have arrested three suspects after shots were fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in the coastal city of Caesarea.

Netanyahu and his family were not at the residence when two flares were fired at it overnight and were not injured, authorities said. A drone launched by Hezbollah struck the residence last month, also while Netanyahu and his family were away.

Police did not provide details on the suspects behind the fires, but officials pointed to critics of Netanyahu’s domestic policies. Israel’s largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the incident and warned against “an escalation of violence in the public sphere.”

Netanyahu has faced months of mass protests over his handling of the hostage crisis sparked by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack in Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

Critics blame Netanyahu for security and intelligence failures that allowed the attack to take place and for failing to reach an agreement with Hamas to release dozens of hostages still being held in Gaza. Israelis gathered again in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to demand a cease-fire agreement to return them.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Yariv Levin took advantage of the blitz to call for a renewal of his plans to overhaul the Israeli judiciary, which had sparked months of mass protests before the war.

“The time has come to give full support to the restoration of the justice and law enforcement systems and to put an end to the anarchy, anger, denial and attempts to harm the Prime Minister,” he said in a statement.

Supporters have said the changes to the judiciary aim to strengthen democracy by circumscribing the authority of unelected judges and handing more power to elected officials. Opponents see the overhaul as a power grab by Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and an attack on a key security body.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a post on X that he “strongly condemns” the firing of rockets at Netanyahu’s home, while blasting Levin’s proposal.

“Levin should go home with the rest of this irresponsible government,” Lapid wrote. “We will not let him turn Israel into an undemocratic state.”