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In a message to all the Palestinian people, Jerusalem church leaders alarmed at worsening relations between two main political parties are calling for an end to violence and an urgent return to the "real priorities" of Palestinians. The plan is to work with Jerusalem's top Islamic leaders on a similar Christian-Muslim message as well.

With the urgent necessity of peace in Israel and Palestine at the top of the agenda, a World Council of Churches meeting has begun work on setting up an international forum to galvanize world-wide church advocacy for the Middle East.

A new group of 25 ecumenical accompaniers have just begun three months of working with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). The group includes the first Hindu and the second Muslim to participate in the programme, the former from South Africa and the latter from the UK.

In a major new initiative, the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has endorsed proposals to establish a comprehensive ecumenical advocacy initiative for peace in the Middle East, and has reiterated its alarm at the dramatic humanitarian consequences and alleged violations of international law during the recent war in Lebanon and northern Israel. Â

World Council of Churches' (WCC) general secretary the Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has called for a comprehensive ecumenical response in seeking lasting peace in the Middle East.

High-resolution photos available - see below

Entrusted with the mission of expressing global ecumenical solidarity with churches and people affected by the current conflict in the Middle East, a three-member ecumenical pastoral delegation composed of representatives of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Catholic Bishops' Conference of France, and the World Council of Churches (WCC) today left Cyprus by boat en route for Beirut.

A joint appeal signed today by the leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) calls "upon Israel and Hezbullah to end the fighting in Lebanon" and "upon the United States, the European Union, and the Arab States to exercise their influence toward this end". It also calls "upon the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza".