A senior Vatican official said in an interview published on Wednesday that the Gaza Strip, which has been under fire by Israeli attacks since December 27, has been turned into a "concentration camp.”

Cardinal Renato Martino, the Vatican's Justice and Peace Minister, was quoted by the online Italian daily Il Sussidiario.

"Let's look at the conditions in Gaza: these increasingly resemble a big concentration camp," the cardinal said.

In reposnse, Israel on Wednesday slammed the senior Vatican official for comparing the Gaza Strip to a "concentration camp," saying the comments were "based on Hamas propaganda."

Martino said it was in neither parties’ interest to carry on fighting and urged both parties to show more "willingness" to hold peace talks.

"If they cannot come to an agreement, then someone else should do it (for them). The world cannot sit back and watch without doing anything," he said.

"We Christians are not the only ones to call this land 'holy', Jews and Muslims do so too. The fact that this land is the scene of bloodshed seems a great tragedy," he added.

-AFP/NOW Staff