Israel lodged a formal protest with the Vatican on Wednesday after the Holy See’s secretary of state said a disproportionate response by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip had led to “massacre” in the Palestinian enclave, Reuters reported.

“This is a sad statement. Assessing the legitimacy of the war without taking into account all the relevant circumstances and data inevitably leads to wrong conclusions,” said the press release of the Israeli embassy in the Vatican.

The Israeli diplomatic comments came just a day after Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, reiterated his “demand that Israel’s right to self-defense, which was used to justify this operation, be proportionate.”

However, he said that given the nearly 30,000 death toll released by Hamas-linked authorities, Israel’s military response was “definitely” disproportionate.

“I think we’re all outraged by what’s happening, by this massacre, but we have to have the courage to move forward and not lose hope,” Parolin added. He emphasized that “we must find other ways to solve the problem of Gaza, the problem of Palestine.”

The Vatican newspaper also speaks of “slaughter” in the Gaza Strip

An article published Wednesday by L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s official newspaper, had a similar message.

“No one can define what is happening in Gaza as ‘collateral damage’ in the fight against terrorism. The right to defense, Israel’s right to prosecute those who committed the October massacre, cannot justify this massacre,” the article states.

At least 1,200 Israelis were killed and another 250 taken hostage by Hamas commandos who entered Israel on October 7 last year.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Wednesday that at least 28,576 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli military strikes.

But Israel’s embassy in the Vatican said on Wednesday that Hamas bears full responsibility for the death and destruction in Gaza, noting that the terrorist organization is using hospitals and schools as shields. The Israeli embassy also suggested that the majority of the population of Gaza “actively” support the Islamist group.