The World Evangelical Alliance has called for an “immediate end” to hostilities in Israel and Gaza and asked both sides to return to “good faith negotiations”.
The death toll from the violence has now reportedly passed 540 including 523 Palestinians, most of whom are civilians, and 18 Israeli soldiers and two civilians. More than 100,000 Palestinians have reportedly been displaced as a result of the two-week-old conflict.
In a statement issued by the WEA on Monday, Rev Harry Tees, the organisation’s ambassador to the Holy Land, called on the church around the world to “join us for a time of prayer and fasting”.
“We, the Evangelicals in the Middle East and in particular in the Holy Land, are saddened by the spiral of violence that once again is ripping through our beloved neighborhoods. As believers in Jesus we beseech God the Almighty to have mercy on our lands.”
The statement also quoted Rev Charles Kopp, chairman of the Evangelical Alliance of Israel, and Dr Munir Kakish, chairman of the Council of Local Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land (which represents evangelicals in the Palestinian Territories).
“It is imperative we remember that our first allegiance and citizenship is from above and that we cannot use the Bible selectively to defend the cause with which we identify,” said Rev Kopp. “We need to come out of this latest round of death and destruction and agree to place this quagmire of despair behind us, and transcend these latest attempts to assassinate what is left of our brotherhood in Christ by loving one another more fervently. Then, and only then, will we be able to demonstrate a difference that the world would envy.”
Dr Kakish asked for “Israelis and Palestinians to stop the fighting”. “We as a council want to be a bridge of peace to all people. We feel very strongly that killing – no matter where – is not a Godly response. War is not the answer. Negotiations are the proper path to solve conflicts.”
He also urged “those who are concerned about lives to help stop the ugly war in Syria and Iraq and throughout the Middle East and North Africa”. “The shedding blood of Christians in our area is going beyond human imagination. Killing Christians just because they are Christian is not acceptable and should be stopped immediately.”
