ROME — Pope Francis used his strongest language to date in condemning ongoing Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, calling them acts of “terrorism.”

“I continue receiving very serious and sad news about Gaza,” the pontiff said following his weekly Angelus prayer in the Vatican.

“Unarmed civilians are targets for bombs and gunfire,” he stated. “And this has happened even within the parish complex of the Holy Family, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick and have disabilities, sisters.”