Pope Francis has railed against the conflicts in Ukraine and the Palestinian territories, where he said “the arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue”, AFP reports.

The 87-year-old’s words, to diplomats at the Vatican, came just days after he called for an investigation into claims Israel was conducting “genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza.

Marking 40 years of a peace deal between Chile and his native Argentina, Francis recalled ongoing conflicts and criticised the arms trade, highlighting “the hypocrisy of speaking about peace and playing at war”.

“This hypocrisy always leads us to failure,” he said in Spanish, adding that “dialogue must be the soul of the international community”.

“I simply mention two failures of humanity today: Ukraine and Palestine, where there is suffering, where the arrogance of the invader prevails over dialogue,” he added in an unscripted remark.