Pope Francis talks to journalists on the flight back to Rome at the end of his four-day visit to Belgium and Luxembourg, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. Andrew Medichini / AP

Pope Francis criticized military attacks that go "beyond morality" after he was asked about Israel's recent escalation of attacks in Lebanon that targeted top Hezbollah commanders.

Francis made the comments while en route home from Belgium when reporters asked him to weigh in on Israel's airstrike that killed Hezbollah's longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday. The strike in Beirut targeted an area greater than a city block and reduced several buildings to rubble.

Hezbollah confirmed that the airstrike also killed Ali Karaki, one of the group's senior commanders. At least seven top commanders in the Iran-backed militant group have been killed in recent days by Israel strikes.

Francis, who didn't mention Israel by name and said he was speaking in general terms, said that "the defense must always be proportional to that attack."

"When there is something disproportionate, there is a dominating tendency that goes beyond morality," he said. "A country that does these things — and I'm talking about any country — in a superlative way, these are immoral actions."

He said that even if war itself is immoral, there are rules that "indicate some morality."

"But when you don't do this … you see the bad blood of these things," he said.

The death of Nasrallah has sent shockwaves throughout Lebanon and the Middle East, where he has been a dominant political and military figure for more than three decades.

President Biden said the Israeli strike was a "measure of justice" for victims of Hezbollah's "reign of terror."

Francis has tried to strike a balance in his comments on the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the conflicts in Gaza and southern Lebanon that have ensued. He has called for an immediate cease-fire, for the release of hostages taken by Hamas and for humanitarian aid to get to Gaza.

Francis repeated that he calls the Catholic parish in Gaza every day to see how they are doing.

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