ABUJA, Tuesday, November 14, 2023 (WAFA) - The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on 8-14 November, demanded in a statement an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, and the opening of humanitarian corridors to deliver food and medicine.

“We yearn for peace and for justice, for an end to the seemingly endless cycle of violence and suffering, and for its fundamental root causes to be addressed,” said the statement. “We lament the abject failure of the international community and of political leaders in the region who did not persist in the search for a sustainable peace founded on justice and mutual respect for the equal human dignity and rights of all, and who kept the cycle of violence turning.”

The WCC executive committee appealed for respect by all parties for the principles of international humanitarian law, especially for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure – including hospitals (such as the al-Ahli, al-Shifa, and al-Quds hospitals), places of worship and holy sites (such as the St Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church), and UN premises – and called for full and impartial legal accountability for all violations of these principles by whomsoever committed.

The statement demanded “an immediate ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors.”

M.K.