The Vatican’s top diplomat on Monday condemned both Hamas’ ‘inhuman and indefensible’ Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s ‘ongoing massacre’ in Gaza, warning that even legitimate self-defense cannot justify the destruction of a ‘largely defenseless population.’

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and one of Pope Leo XIV’s advisers, spoke in an interview marking the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel — a raid that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 people taken hostage.

Parolin said Israel’s military response has stretched far beyond the bounds of proportionality, turning Gaza’s crowded neighborhoods into ruins.

‘The war waged by the Israeli army to eliminate Hamas militants disregards the fact that it is targeting a largely defenseless population, already pushed to the brink, in an area where buildings and homes are reduced to rubble,’ he told Vatican media.

‘Those who are attacked have a right to defend themselves,’ he said, ‘but even legitimate defense must respect the principle of proportionality.’

Reuters reported that Hamas-run Gaza health authorities claim Israel’s campaign has resulted in over 67,000 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians.

The remarks rank among the Church’s sharpest rebukes of the war. They also mark a shift toward a more forceful Vatican voice under Leo, who succeeded Pope Francis in May.

Parolin also faulted global powers for their paralysis.

‘It is… clear that the international community is, unfortunately, powerless and that the countries truly capable of exerting influence have so far failed to act to stop the ongoing massacre,’ he said.

‘I can only repeat the very clear words spoken by Pope Leo on July 20: ‘I renew my appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and to respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of the population.’’

Parolin went further, questioning the morality of arms sales to parties in the conflict.

‘It’s not enough to say that what is happening is unacceptable and then continue to allow it to happen,’ he said.

‘We must seriously ask ourselves about the legitimacy… of continuing to supply weapons that are being used against civilians.’

In July, Pope Leo XIV expressed sadness and called for a ceasefire after Gaza’s only Catholic Church was hit in an apparent Israeli strike, leaving at least two dead and several injured. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said ‘stray ammunition’ hit the church.

Parolin’s warning lands as European leaders face growing pressure to do more than issue statements of concern. His use of ‘massacre’ echoed humanitarian groups that say Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has collapsed.

At the same time, he reiterated the Church’s demand that Hamas free all remaining hostages.

‘Those attacks were inhuman and indefensible,’ he said, underscoring that neither side’s suffering diminishes the other’s.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Vatican on the matter.

Reuters contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Monday evening slammed Democratic lawmakers for shutting down the government amid one of ‘the most successful economies,’ calling on them to reopen the government tonight.

‘Democrats have SHUT DOWN the United States Government right in the midst of one of the most successful Economies, including a Record Stock Market, that our Country has ever had,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘This has sadly affected so many programs, services, and other elements of Society that Americans rely on — And it should not have happened.

‘I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open,’ he added. ‘In fact, they should open our Government tonight!’

Trump made the post after Senate Democrats, again, blocked Republican efforts to reopen the government, ensuring the shutdown will last at least a week.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most Democrats say they won’t support funding the government unless Congress agrees to extend expiring ObamaCare subsidies.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., needs at least eight Democrats to back the GOP bill, which would reopen the government through Nov. 21. So far, only Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, have broken ranks to end the shutdown, while Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., remains the only Republican holdout.

Democrats warn that without a deal to extend the subsidies expiring this year, millions could face soaring premiums. Both sides say they want an agreement but remain split over when to address the issue.

Schumer also wants assurance that Trump will sign any deal, pointing to expected resistance from House Republicans.

‘We need the president involved,’ Schumer said. ‘[House Speaker Mike] Johnson and a whole lot of his caucus don’t like the ACA, don’t want to do the extensions. A lot of Republican senators in the Senate do, but they’re not enough. Good is not enough. You need Johnson and you need Trump to get it done. So that’s the bottom line.’

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, ‘we’re talking to Democrats.’ When asked if he’d work with them on a deal to reopen the government, he said, ‘Yeah.’

‘I’d like to see a deal made for great healthcare,’ Trump said. ‘I want to see great healthcare. I’m a Republican, but I want to see healthcare much more so than the Democrats.’

Schumer fired back, saying Trump’s ‘claim isn’t true — but if he’s finally ready to work with Democrats, we’ll be at the table.’

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., tore into Special Counsel Jack Smith, accusing him of ‘spying on political opponents’ during the Jan. 6 probe and calling the alleged surveillance ‘an abuse of power beyond Watergate.’

The FBI, working under Smith’s direction, obtained call logs and metadata tied to nearly a dozen GOP senators, including Hawley, as part of its investigation into the Capitol riot, Fox News reported. The tracking involved call records and timestamps, not the content of the conversations.

Hawley told Fox News Digital on Monday that the newly released documents suggest that Biden’s administration was ‘spying on the president’s political opponents,’ which he called ‘a profound violation of the separation of powers.’

He said the activity fits what he views as part of a broader pattern of executive overreach under Biden, citing alleged surveillance of Catholic churches, parents at school board meetings and social media censorship.

‘The truth comes out. Biden’s Stasi who claimed to be saving ‘our sacred democracy’ in fact worked overtime to destroy it — all for power. They spied on Catholic churches, prosecuted pro-lifers, deployed the FBI against parents at school board meetings — and tried to tap the phones of their political enemies. Including mine,’ Hawley wrote on X.

‘This is an abuse of power beyond Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, one that directly strikes at the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment,’ he continued. ‘We need a full investigation of all involved: who knew about it, who ordered it, and who approved it. Anyone and everyone who violated the law must be prosecuted. The way to save the country is to restore the rule of law.’

Hawley said he was targeted because he is a conservative Republican who vocally opposed Biden and ‘his lawlessness.’

‘It’s obviously totally partisan,’ the senator said, adding that he’s proud to have called out what he described as the abuse of power by the FBI. He also said the alleged conduct was ‘dangerous, very, very dangerous’ for the country.

Hawley said the scope of the alleged surveillance was even greater than Watergate.

‘This is worse than Watergate,’ he said, arguing that Biden ‘activated the entire government to go after anybody who dared to oppose him.’ He accused the administration of using agencies such as the FBI, DOJ and DHS to silence critics and monitor private citizens.

Hawley called for a full Justice Department investigation and said appointing a special counsel ‘who will devote their full attention to it’ would be appropriate.

‘We’ve got to have a total accountability, total transparency and a full accounting of everybody who was involved in this — everybody who knew about it, signed off on it, and had any part in it, and I just can’t imagine that this is legal… and anybody who committed legal violations needs to be prosecuted,’ he said.

Hawley has framed the controversy as a test of constitutional limits, saying the government must be held accountable when power is used to pursue political opponents instead of upholding the rule of law.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Two years since the horrific events of Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel and killed 1,200 men, women and children, before they took 251 others into the Gaza Strip, there is still no hostage deal and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is facing possible collapse. 

Netanyahu has found an unlikely ally in former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, who extended a ‘security net’ to the conservative leader this week in a move to secure the government as negotiations with Hamas remain ongoing. 

‘Nothing is more important than making this deal, bringing our hostages back home,’ Lapid said in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

The need for Lapid’s political backing comes as right-wing leaders in Netanyahu’s coalition, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have repeatedly criticized Netanyahu’s acceptance of President Donald Trump’s peace plan with Hamas and threatened to leave the coalition at numerous points over the last year. 

Netanyahu’s coalition lost its majority in the Israeli parliament in July when two ultra-Orthodox parties left their ministerial posts after an exemption that granted religious students a pass for military conscription expired. 

The move left Netanyahu’s coalition in control of just 50 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

‘Now he’s totally dependent on the extreme alt-right within his government that says no to any deal [with Hamas],’ Lapid explained. 

When asked how likely he thought it was that special elections would be triggered once parliament returns from its Autumn break on Oct. 19, Lapid said, ‘very likely.’

A special election is unlikely to happen sooner than February or March 2026, Lapid explained, pointing to a designated time frame that allows for campaigning in Israel, should the Knesset trigger an early election cycle by November – just seven months sooner than the previously scheduled October 2026 elections. 

Lapid believes the Israeli public will favor a more centrist government that would encompass both the right and left, a move that would still prioritize Israeli security, but also ensure there is an end to the war in Gaza and repairs are made to Jerusalem’s international standing.

‘If there’s one thing I’m sorry about, [it] is the fact that nobody in the government has the political courage to stand up and say…this is a just war, we are doing what needs to be done in order to protect ourselves, but we are sorry for every child that loses his life,’ Lapid said. ‘Children should not die in grownups’ wars.’

‘As Jews, as human beings, as people who believe in Judeo-Christian traditions and morality, it’s heartbreaking,’ he added. 

Lapid said this failure of the current government not only led to ambiguity when it came to Israel’s strategy in countering Hamas, it fueled what he said is media bias and false reporting, and it cost Israel dearly in terms of international support, even among ‘groups that traditionally supported Israel.’

The opposition leader described a meeting he had with Netanyahu on Oct. 7, 2023, in which he said the prime minister appeared ‘gray and tired and old all of a sudden.’

 ‘I said something at that meeting that later on became a cliché – I said, ‘Prime Minister, this is the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. 

‘What we need to do, is form a unity government,’ he said. ‘You have to get rid of the extremists in your government, and we can create a unity of government because we have opposite us, a challenge that is unparalleled to anything you, or I, have ever seen.’

Lapid said Netanyahu was ‘reluctant’ to pursue this route. 

‘Until this day, I’m sorry about this. I thought it was the right thing to do, and I still think it was the right thing to do,’ he added. 

Netanyahu has spent 15 years as Israel’s prime minister, first serving from March 2009 to June 2021, before retaking the top job in December 2022. 

Lapid described his lengthy tenure as ‘admirable’ and emblematic of his ‘resilience.’

‘But in other ways, I can see now, to say politely, the benefits of the two-term limits that you have in the United States,’ he added.

The opposition leader said he thinks Israelis are ready for a ‘unity government’ in response to Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition, noting that he thinks the upcoming elections will be ‘interesting.’

‘It’s going to cross political lines, and it’s going to be based on hope,’ he added in reference to the bloc he is building. ‘I know it sounds like big words, but I’m telling you, it is what we need right now. 

‘It’s been the hardest two years of everybody’s lifetime. And the first time in a long, long time, the fragility of the Israeli society was tangible to us. And we need to rebuild,’ Lapid added. 

Netanyahu’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions by the time this report was published.