Israel deletes condolences over Pope Francis death

The Israeli government shared and then deleted a social media post offering condolences over the death of Pope Francis, without saying why, though an Israeli newspaper linked the decision to the late pontiff's criticism of the war in Gaza.

The verified @Israel account had posted on Monday a message on social media platform X that read: "Rest in Peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing", alongside an image of the pope visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Post quoted officials at the foreign ministry as saying that the pope had made "statements against Israel" and that the social media post had been published in "error".

The foreign ministry, which social media platform X states on its website is linked to the verified @Israel account, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, suggested last November that the global community should study whether Israel's military campaign in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people, in some of his most explicit criticism yet of Israel's conduct in its war with Hamas that began in October 2023.

In January the pope also called the humanitarian situation in Gaza "shameful", prompting criticism from Rome's chief Jewish rabbi who accused Francis of "selective indignation".

Israel says accusations of genocide in its Gaza campaign are baseless and that it is solely hunting down Hamas and other armed groups.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a far-right coalition of religious and nationalist parties, has not commented on the pope's death.