The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia encouraged the Council's member churches to pray for all those suffering as a result of the Middle East crisis, to support the appeals for emergency aid and to speak out for justice among the states and peoples in the region.

The new wave of violence in the Middle East is a cause for alarm around the world, and all sides should cease the violent confrontation and ensure the protection of civilians, the World Council of Churches (WCC) appealed today.

"Deeply distressed" by the current escalation of the Israel/Palestine conflict, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia called on the international community "to take bold and novel actions to uphold international law and break the vicious cycle of violence" in the region. Both parties should engage in "equitable negotiations," he said.

A member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) was attacked by a woman settler in the Tel Rumeida district of Hebron on Friday, 23 June.

At its first meeting since its appointment in February 2006, the WCC's executive committee has approved new programmatic directions for the Council and has endorsed a framework for activities in the coming years.

For peace to be achieved, both parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be held to identical standards on ending violence, respecting agreements, and recognizing the other says the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee.

Patriarch Theophilos III, head of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, was received by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia today at the WCC headquarters in Geneva in their first official encounter since he was elected in 2005.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee called today on the government of Iran for a moratorium on its uranium enrichment programme, and said resolving the controversy should include Iran's recognition of the state of Israel within its 1967 borders and support for international efforts to end terrorism. Other countries should also contribute to global security from nuclear threats, the committee said.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee meets at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute outside Geneva from 16-19 May 2006 at its first session since its election at the Council's 9th Assembly in Brazil earlier this year.

Expressing "alarm and concern" the World Council of Churches (WCC) has presented a formal protest to the Israeli ambassador in Switzerland over two recent incidents involving violence by Israeli settlers against Christian volunteers participating in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).