The representative of Pope Benedict XVI for matters of justice and peace, issues the toughest criticism by the Vatican against Israel.

On Wednesday, Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Vatican’s Council for Justice and Peace voiced the Holy See’s strongest criticism since the latest Mideast crisis began, calling Gaza a “big concentration camp”, Reuters reported.

Martino made the statement while speaking in an interview with the Italian online newspaper Il Sussidiario.net.

“Defenseless populations are always the ones who pay. Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp”, Martino, (his informal title in the Vatican is “justice minister”) said.

This comes at a time when the Pope has not openly criticized Israel and has only made several general appeals for an end to the violence in Gaza.