Italian Catholic priest deported from Israel after Gaza genocide claim

An Italian Catholic priest was denied entry to Israel at Ben-Gurion Airport and deported over alleged "public security" concerns, Italian media reported on Monday.

Don Nandino Capovilla, from Venice, had travelled to join a "pilgrimage of justice in the Holy Land" visiting Bethlehem, Jerusalem and the West Bank with 15 others led by Archbishop Giovanni Ricchiuti, president of Pax Christi Italy,  a Catholic peace movement that includes 120 member organisations worldwide.

Capovilla was stopped immediately after disembarking his plane and handed a "decision regarding the refusal of entry into Israel" form, which he refused to sign, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The document stated that he was not "permitted to enter Israel" and cited "considerations relating to public security, public safety, or public order".

"The person will be removed from Israel as soon as possible and in the meantime will be held in a designated facility," it added.

The paper said Capovilla, a former national coordinator of Pax Christi, openly described Israel’s assault on Gaza as "the genocide of the Palestinian people", which is the growing consensus of human rights organisations and experts around the world.

He recently co-authored 'Under the Gaza Sky' with Betta Tusset, a book compiling testimonies from Gaza and condemning those who reduce the "ongoing massacre" of Palestinians to something that began on 7 October 2023.

The priest told followers on Facebook that he had spent seven hours in an Israeli holding facility before being flown to Cyprus and on to Italy via Frankfurt.

He urged journalists to "dedicate just one line to my well-being" and focus instead on "demanding sanctions against a state that bombs mosques and churches as part of the ‘errors’ it makes", as Israel continues its bloody and brutal assault on Gaza.

Churches have been targeted in the assault, while Palestinian Christians have been victims of Israel's mass bombing and siege of the territory.

"I do not authorise any journalist to interview me about my seven hours of detention unless they also write about the people who have been prisoners in their own land for seventy years," he added.

Archbishop Ricchiuti, who reached Bethlehem with the rest of the delegation, told the paper he was given no explanation for the deportation but believed it was linked to Capovilla's book.

"We tried everything, pulled every string, but it was no use, unfortunately. We’re here, from Rome and Venice, on a pilgrimage as part of our campaign for justice and peace: [build] bridges, not walls," he said.

The Pax Christi trip has called on the Italian parliament and government to condemn Israel, halt all arms exports to the country, and recognise a Palestinian state.

Around 9,900 Palestinians have been jailed by Israel, including 3,498 held without trial, with a huge increase in detentions since the war on Gaza began on 7 October 2023. Torture, including rape of detainees, is believed to be widespread at these facilities.

The assault on Gaza has seen at least 61,000 Palestinians killed, the vast majority civilians with most of the Palestinian territory reduced to rubble.