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It is time for the U.S. to condemn Israeli bombardment of civilian centers and the blockade just as strongly as it has condemned indiscriminate rockets from Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups into Israel, say several church groups in a letter to President Barack Obama.

Expressing grave concern over the escalation of military operations in Gaza, the WCC general secretary said, “Hostilities must cease. Israel, Palestine and the surrounding region must be offered the hope of peace: a peace based in justice, a lasting peace that may lead toward reconciliation”.

Continuing with a long-time commitment of the WCC, a recent statement issued by Council’s chief governing body reaffirms churches’ “solidarity with those working for peace with justice in Palestine and Israel”. The statement encourages churches to make responsible decisions regarding their investments which have an impact on the current situation in the region.

Attacks by the Israeli military on the civilian population in Gaza, as well as firing of rockets by militants from Gaza to Israel, were strongly condemned by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.

When Dr Ulysses Burley III visited Palestine and Israel six months ago, he came away with an even stronger determination to work for social justice, wherever and however he can.

The WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed deep sorrow over the killing of three Israeli teenagers whose bodies were recovered on 30 June, Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrah. “We pray for their families, all their friends and the extended community that grieves their loss,” he said in a pastoral letter issued on 1 July.

“The Palestinian people thirst for water justice.” So claims a recently issued statement by a fact-finding group that this month visited Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza to better understand the critical issues of water and sanitation in Palestine.

Bishop Munib Younan will participate in an inter-religious service of prayer for peace to be held at the Vatican on Pentecost Sunday 8 June.

The weekend meeting of Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople holds significance for global churches and the ecumenical movement beyond the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC.

Observing Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on 17 April, the WCC general secretary expressed solidarity with some 5000 Palestinian men, women and children, languishing in Israeli jails.

APRODEV and CIDSE, two church-related organizations, have condemned in a recent statement the forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, which they say is “uprooting any chance of a just peace”.

APRODEV, an association of European development agencies related to the World Council of Churches, has urged the European Union to develop a long-term strategy to reconnect Gaza to the West Bank.

Joining his voice to those of the churches in Palestine and Israel, the WCC general secretary has expressed “grave concern” about a law recently passed by the Israeli parliament.

A space set up by the WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) at the WCC’s 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, shares the realities of people living in the Palestinian occupied territory, through images, presentation and conversations stressing the need for peace in the region.

Jenny Derbyshire, a volunteer for the World Council of Churches programme for Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, previously based in Bethlehem, was part of a team that travelled to Brussels recently to bring to light stories of Palestinians living under siege. Derbyshire, from Ireland, used her eye witness accounts from the occupied territory to urge the European Union to support the two-state solution for peace and stability in the region.

Nine volunteers with the WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel have met with European Union officials, urging them to honour recently issued guidelines on grants and loans to Israeli settlements.

The WCC invites its member churches, faith-based organizations and civil society to observe the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel from 22 to 28 September, invoking prayers, action and advocacy for justice and peace in Palestine.

A WCC conference has issued a joint statement calling the churches and ecumenical actors to commit themselves to support one another in prayers and actions to support Christian presence and witness in the Middle East.

“We do not live in the mentality of the ghetto, nor in the mentality of a minority complex, nor do we live as dhimmi (dependent) people,” said Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan. “We have always been, as Arab Christians, building our societies, loyal to our countries and nationalities, bringing hope in hopeless situations.”