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High officials from ancient Christian churches in the Near East have issued a common statement denouncing the emergence of armed extremist groups who “murder, shatter and violate the sacred nature of the churches” and other suffering communities in the Middle East.

The recent air strikes by Israel on the Gaza Strip have crippled the water distribution system. Dinesh Suna, coordinator of the Ecumenical Water Network of the WCC, shares that an already challenging water situation in Gaza has recently worsened because of the violence, threatening the fundamental human right to water and sanitation.

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”.

Expresando su profunda preocupación por la escalada de las operaciones militares en Gaza, el secretario general del CMI, Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit dijo: "Las hostilidades deben cesar. A Israel, Palestina y la región circundante se les debe ofrecer la esperanza de la paz: una paz basada en la justicia, la paz duradera que pueda conducir a la reconciliación ".

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.