Gaza: Aid agencies call for more than a ceasefire

'There has been little reconstruction since 2014 as Israel bars import of building materials' - 2019

Source: CAFOD/Christian Aid

Aid agencies working in the Holy Land have welcomed Friday's ceasefire but call for the underlying causes of injustice in the region to be dealt with.

CAFOD said: "We welcome the ceasefire brokered by Egypt, to halt the 11-day conflict between Israel and Gaza. However, there needs to be more than a ceasefire to stop the cycle of death, destruction and suffering for Palestinian and Israeli families. This current violence did not start with the threatened evictions in East Jerusalem and violent policing of protesters which spread violence among Palestinian and Israeli citizens of Israel. The violence has its roots in the 54 year old occupation that violates the human rights of every Palestinian in the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

In a letter to the UN, Church leaders across the United Kingdom, America, and Europe urged the UN: "to act immediately to address the continuing underlying causes of injustice that will otherwise remain a constant threat to peace in the Holy Land: occupation, land dispossession, displacement, and the withholding of basic human rights we take for granted. What is required is not a temporary ceasefire, but a permanent and lasting solution that will guarantee equality and human rights for all."

The Palestinian and Israeli communities are paying the price for the failure of political leadership and the international community to negotiate a just and lasting peace. However, the peace that ordinary people want to see and live their lives by, cannot be achieved unless the deep root causes of this decades long conflict are addressed.

As Patriarch Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has said: "This crisis must bring the Israeli-Palestinian question back to the centre of the international agenda, which lately seemed forgotten and overcome, but which nevertheless has continued to be a painful wound. The wound was only covered, hidden, but never healed. Once the band that covered it was removed, it became visible and painful again, perhaps even more than in the past".

At CAFOD, we pray for healing of relationships and commit ourselves to work for the dignity of all peoples in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.

In a statement entitled 'Do not return to the status quo after welcome ceasefire; Christian Aid said: "Responding to the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians announced earlier this morning, William Bell, Christian Aid's head of Middle East, said:

"We welcome the ceasefire and hope and pray that all parties abide by it. One life lost is too many. But now it is imperative that the international community afford all help necessary to support the immediate humanitarian needs of the Palestinians in Gaza and begin the long process of reconstruction. The best way to begin this process would be to lift the blockade on Gaza which for too long has stifled life for two million people. And there must be clear political will to address the underlying causes of why the cycle of violence repeats itself so often. There can be no going back to the status quo ante, in the effort to build a lasting peace based on justice, dignity and equality for all."

Hundreds of demonstrations took place in towns and cities around the world over the weekend, calling for justice for the Palestinians. More than 180,000 gathered in London on Saturday. Report soon on ICN.

LINK

Church Leaders: UN Security Council must call for immediate ceasefire in Israel-Palestine Conflict - www.cbcew.org.uk/church-leaders-un-security-council-must-call-for-immediate-ceasefire-in-israel-palestine-conflict/