Pope Francis has said that allegations of a genocide in Gaza should be “carefully investigated” marking some of his strongest criticism yet of Israel’s war in the territory.

It’s the first time that Pope Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.

Genocide is something else. When a million children are burned to death, then you can talk about genocide,” Edith Bruck said in a Nov. 18 interview with Italian media.