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.

The escalation of violence in Gaza has led to a tragic increase in Palestinian casualties, with the latest Israeli airstrike targeting a residential area. As the death toll provided by Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry approaches 44,

Francis has not previously described the situation in Gaza as a genocide in public. But last year he was at the centre of a messy dispute after a meeting with a group of Palestinians at the Vatican, who insisted he had used the word with them in private, while the Vatican said he had not.