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.

While Pope Francis has criticized the war before, this is the first time he has publicly suggested an investigation, according to excerpts from a new book.

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.