An Israeli government minister criticised Pope Francis for suggesting the international community should study whether Israel’s military offensive in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people, Reuters reports.

In an open letter published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio, Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said the pope’s remarks — made in excerpts from a forthcoming book that were published last month — amounted to a “trivialisation” of the term genocide.

“As a people who lost six million of its sons and daughters in the Holocaust, we are particularly sensitive to the trivialisation of the term ‘genocide’ — a trivialisation that comes dangerously close to Holocaust denial,” Chikli wrote.

Chikli, who ended the letter by calling Francis “a dear friend of the Jewish people,” asked the pope “to clarify your position regarding the new accusation of genocide against the Jewish state”.

The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.