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Expressing grave concern and warning of a deteriorating human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the WCC is suggesting a host of measures in response to recent violence at the Gaza border and other provocative acts in Israel and Palestine.
In a statement issued from this week’s meeting of its central committee, the WCC has lamented the costly violence and bloodshed on the border of Gaza with Israel, which has taken more than 100 lives and left 13,000 injured as Israeli troops responded to Palestinian demonstrations with live fire.
Condemning the violence as disproportionate and indefensible, the statement reiterated the longstanding position of the WCC: “It is our firm belief that all actors – Israeli and Palestinian – must strive for a just peace, act with utmost respect for the sanctity of life, and exercise restraint from all forms of violence, which can only further escalate the on-going tensions.”
The central committee also cited the decision by the US to recognize Jerusalem and the capital of the State of Israel and to move its embassy there as not only provocative but also in violation of UN resolutions and international consensus that the status of Jerusalem be settled by negotiation.
While still striving for just peace in the region, based on a two-state solution, the central committee called for an international inquiry into Israel’s response in Gaza and for the US to reverse its recent decisions about Jerusalem, among other actions.
