ROME – Without mentioning Pope Francis directly, the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See hit back against the pontiff’s condemnation Sunday of the resumption of “heavy Israeli bombings” in Gaza, saying renewed military action is because Hamas is not respecting ceasefire conditions.

“The Israeli operation is conducted in full conformity with international law and seeks to reduce the civilian damage to a minimum,” a March 24 statement from the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See said.

It insisted that Israel’s recent military activity in the Gaza Strip is being conducted “in full conformity with international law. While Hamas deliberately targets civilians, Israel adopts extraordinary measures to reduce the civilian damage to a minimum.”

“Every civilian victim is a terrible loss,” the statement said.

The statement was sent in response to remarks from Pope Francis in his Sunday Angelus address, which for the past six consecutive weeks he has not delivered in person due to his hospitalization, but has opted to publish the text of his address instead.

Prior to being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital March 23 after spending five weeks there fighting a complex respiratory infection and double pneumonia, the pope called for an end to the resumption of hostilities in Gaza in his Angelus text.

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Francis in the address voiced sadness at the resumption of “heavy Israeli bombings” in the Gaza Strip, ending a tenuous ceasefire agreement, and lamented the growing number of dead and wounded.

In Sunday’s address, he asked that “weapons be silenced immediately” in Gaza and voiced hope that all parties involved in the conflict would “have the courage to resume dialogue, so that all of the hostages are freed and a definitive ceasefire is reached.”

Francis also lamented the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and expressed his hope that a “serious and urgent commitment” would be made to alleviate it by the warring parties, and the international community.

After a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was struck roughly two months ago, Israel resumed air and ground military operations March 18, Palestinian health authorities saying the renewed strikes have killed 700 Palestinians, over half of whom are children.

Gaza health officials estimate that at least 50,000 people have been killed in total since the war began Oct. 7, 2023, following a Hamas attack on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and in which more than 250 people were taken hostage, some of whom remain in captivity.

In their statement Monday, the Israeli Embassy, though they did not mention Pope Francis specifically, said they resumed strikes March 18, nearly 20 days after the first phase of the ceasefire agreement related to the return of hostages was completed.

The reason, the embassy said, was “due to the lack of progress in negotiations for their release and following the rejection on the part of Hamas of two distinct proposals advanced by the envoy of the President of the United States,” Steve Witkoff, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East.

“Hamas repeated violated the ceasefire and used it to actively rebuild its military arsenal, stocking up on weapons and restoring rocket launch sites, as demonstrated by the recent attacks against Israel,” the statement said.

Some 59 hostages remain in captivity in “inhumane conditions,” undergoing physical and psychological abuse, the statement said, noting that other hostages who have been released recounted enduring similar mistreatment, “in clear violation of international law.”

“The State of Israel maintains that it is its moral and ethical duty to bring them home,” the embassy said.

In response to claims about the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the embassy said the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip has not stopped, bur rather, supplies are being “embezzled” by Hamas militants.

To this end, they noted that on March 20, Eli Sharabi, an Israeli hostage who has been freed, told the United Nations Security Council that he personally witnessed that when humanitarian aid arrived, “Hamas stole it.”

“Dozens and dozens of boxes, paid for by your governments, are feeding the terrorists who tortured me and murdered my family,” Sharabi said, saying, “Hamas eats like kings while the hostages die of hunger. Hamas stole from the civilians.”

The embassy said that during the ceasefire period, Israel delivered 25,200 trucks of food, fuels, and other basic needs, but Hamas militants “stole most of this aid to reinforce its terroristic structure.”

Humanitarian aid is currently accumulating in Hamas warehouses and is becoming a source of income for the group, which it is using to pay its members, the statement said.

“In these circumstances, Israel’s decision to facilitate access to goods only applies when there are no serious grounds to believe that the supplies will be diverted from their civilian purpose or provide a clear military advantage to the enemy,” it said.

The embassy reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to achieving its objectives in Gaza, which are “to guarantee the release of all hostages, dismantle the Hamas government and military capabilities, and remove the terroristic threat from the Gaza Strip to impede another October 7.”

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