Francis's last wish: the popemobile will be a clinic for the children of Gaza.
The pontiff's was one of the few voices in the West that criticized the genocide but did not take concrete measures in this regard.
BarcelonaPope Francis often spoke with Christians in Gaza via video calls during the nineteen months of the Israeli army's genocidal operation in the Strip. He offered prayers, encouraged them, or simply listened. His pontificate did not go beyond this spiritual and moral support for the Palestinians, but it contrasted with the indifference, passivity, if not outright support for Benjamin Netanyahu's government on the part of most international leaders. The last time he called Gaza was two days before his death, on April 21, according to Vatican sources. In his will, Francis made the final gesture toward the Palestinians: he wanted his popemobile, the electric vehicle with which he immersed himself in baths of masses around the world, to become a mobile clinic for the children of Gaza.
"Creatures are not numbers. They are faces. Names. Stories. And each one is sacred," said the pontiff, and now these words could be turned into material aid, amid the near-collapse of Gaza's healthcare system due to Israeli bombing and the Israeli bloc and the Benjamin Netanyahu bloc blocking all passages of goods. Caritas Jerusalem is in charge of equipping the vehicle with diagnostic and treatment instruments, including pots for infections, vaccines, suture kits, and other vital materials.
The goal is for the popemobile to be used to transport medical personnel and supplies to all corners of Gaza when the border crossings reopen. This is provided that the ethnic cleansing plan that Trump and Netanyahu have outlined with the macabre image of a Gaza Strip converted into a tourist shore of the Mediterranean without Palestinians has not been executed. Caritas Sweden's secretary general, Peter Burne, said the vehicle "will be able to reach children who have no access to health services, who are injured or malnourished." Caritas Jerusalem has a mission in Gaza with around 100 health professionals on the ground, organized into 14 teams spread across the Strip.
In the last months of his life, the Argentine pope condemned the extermination of Palestinian civilians, without mincing words: "That is cruelty, it is not a war." Last Christmas, the baby Jesus in the nativity scene in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican was wrapped in a kufiya, the traditional Palestinian headscarf, in a gesture of solidarity. Last year the Pope spoke the word genocide: "For some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide: it should be carefully investigated whether it fits the definition formulated by jurists and international organizations." When Israel unilaterally broke the truce in March, Francis declared: "I am saddened by the resumption of intense Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, which is causing many deaths and injuries. I call for an immediate halt to arms and a resumption of dialogue so that all the hostages may be freed."
Pope Francis visited Palestine in 2014 and made an unscheduled stop in front of the Israeli wall that illegally isolates the West Bank, on a stretch between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. According to his driver's eyewitness account, he asked to stop at a section of the wall where there was graffiti comparing Bethlehem to the Warsaw ghetto, where Jews revolted against the Nazis before being completely massacred.
In his last public message, on Easter Sunday, Francis again remembered Gaza: "I think of the people of Gaza, and in particular of its Christian community, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation." These comments were met with an angry reaction from the Israeli authorities. Upon the Pope's death, the Israeli Foreign Ministry deleted a message of condolence (claiming it had been "published in error") and ordered all its embassies to do the same. He also ordered all its ambassadors not to sign the book of condolences. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also did not send his condolences.
No sanctions
But despite his moral support for the Palestinians, Francis also failed to take any practical steps to support the Palestinian people. Vatican diplomacy did not break relations with Israel or recall its ambassadors, as countries such as Colombia, Bolivia, Turkey, and South Africa did. The Holy See also did not adopt sanctions, support legal initiatives against Israel, or send missions to the field.