This Friday an emergency committee made up of the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem issued an urgent call to end the escalation of violence in Palestine, following the evacuation order in Gaza by Israel.
“The order to evacuate northern Gaza and ask 1.1 million people, including all members of our Christian communities there, to relocate to the south within 24 hours will only deepen an already disastrous humanitarian catastrophe,” indicates the statement from the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, released this October 13.
“Many civilians in Gaza have told us that there are no realistic ways they can evacuate to safety in any direction,” he adds.
According to United Nations (UN) sources, 423,000 people have already been displaced due to the destruction of their homes in the midst of the war waged for a week between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group, mainly in Gaza City.
This October 13, the Israeli Army warned more than a million residents of northern Gaza to move further south “for their own safety,” ahead of an expected ground invasion.
The emergency committee of the Churches in the Holy Land met this Friday to pray and consult about the serious humanitarian crisis in the region.
“Our beloved Holy Land has changed drastically in the last week. We are witnessing a new cycle of violence with an unjustifiable attack on all civilians. Tensions continue to rise and more innocent and vulnerable people are paying the highest price, as the dramatic level of death and destruction in Gaza clearly shows,” the group laments.
In their message, the Patriarchs and Christian leaders urged the “State of Israel, with the support of the International Community, to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza so that thousands of innocent civilians can receive medical treatment and basic supplies.”
“Furthermore, we call on all parties to slow down this war in order to save innocent lives while serving the cause of justice,” he adds.
Finally, in a gesture of solidarity towards those who have suffered the horrors of this conflict, the Churches in the Holy Land extended an invitation “to all good-hearted people around the world to join in a Day of Prayer and Fasting on Tuesday 17 October”.