The World Council of Churches has called on the European Union to impose sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel over what it described as a war of genocide in the Gaza Strip and violations against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Iskandar Majlton, the local coordinator of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, which is affiliated with the World Council of Churches, said the council was “deeply shocked by the cycle of violence and the immense suffering” in the region.
He said the council’s position is based on international law and human rights, and that it strongly condemns all attacks targeting civilians.
He added that the world is witnessing an “unprecedented humanitarian disaster” in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of civilians have been killed, most of them women and children, and where almost the entire population has been displaced amid widespread of destruction, hunger and disease.
He stressed that the “tragic cycle of violence” in Gaza did not begin in October 2023, but is the result of decades of occupation, the blockade imposed on Gaza, and systematic inequality.
The Middle East Monitor is a not-for-profit press monitoring organization and lobbying group that emerged in mid-2009. MEMO is largely focused on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict but writes about other issues in the Middle East, as well
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