By Frank Ulom
VATICAN CITY (CONVERSEER) – The Vatican’s recent statements condemning Israel’s military campaign in Gaza have attracted sharp criticism from legal and security experts, who accuse the Holy See of moral inconsistency and legal inaccuracy in its assessment of the ongoing conflict.
In remarks marking the second anniversary of Hamas’s 7th October 2023 attack on Israel, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin acknowledged Israel’s right to self-defence but accused it of “disregarding the fact that it is targeting a largely defenseless population,” calling Israel’s military actions “disproportionate.”
Observers argue that this framing not only mischaracterises international humanitarian law but also neglects the central role of Hamas in perpetuating Palestinian suffering. “If the Palestinians are defenseless, it is against Hamas and not Israel,” critics noted, pointing out that the Vatican failed to condemn Hamas’s tactics, including the systematic use of civilians as human shields — a clear violation of the laws of war.
Article 51(7) of the 1977 Protocol I Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions prohibits the use of civilians to shield military objectives. Hamas, however, continues to operate from residential zones, beneath hospitals, within schools, and inside civilian homes, complicating Israel’s military operations in densely populated areas.
International humanitarian law requires that armed forces take “all feasible precautions” to avoid or minimise civilian harm. But proportionality is a legal balancing test — not a numerical formula — that weighs anticipated military advantage against potential civilian harm.
According to legal scholars and military experts, including Major John Spencer of West Point and Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, Israel’s conduct aligns with the laws of armed conflict.
Critics argue that the Vatican’s language — branding Israel’s actions a “massacre” — ignores this legal nuance and undermines its moral authority. By focusing exclusively on Israel’s actions while overlooking Hamas’s war crimes and refusal to release hostages, the Vatican is accused of advancing a one-sided narrative that fuels animosity and weakens its credibility as a neutral moral voice.
Since October 2023, Israel’s declared objectives have been to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure. Analysts say that had Hamas released the hostages early on, the conflict landscape would be drastically different.
By misrepresenting the proportionality principle and failing to hold Hamas accountable, critics argue, the Vatican “engages in moral myopia,” inadvertently emboldening terrorist actors while undermining Israel’s security concerns and the plight of ordinary Palestinians trapped under Hamas rule.
