Crisis in Gaza

In response to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, senior British Church leaders have been making strong statements – and issuing calls to prayer and action.

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At their annual conference in London in late May, Quakers in Britain became the first British church to state their belief that the Israeli government is committing genocide in Gaza. The Britain Yearly Meeting statement includes the paragraph, ‘…we have watched with horror as the Israeli government has deepened its collective punishment of Palestinians for the heinous, unjustified crimes of Hamas on 7 October 2023. Over the last three months, we have witnessed the deliberate mass starvation of a people and dismantling of almost all life-sustaining systems within Gaza. We have seen the forced movement of Palestinians and a stated intention to expel them from Gaza. We have heard Israeli government ministers incite hatred against and dehumanise Palestinians. We have heard language and witnessed actions that cannot be justified and strike at the core of our common humanity.’ Read the full statement HERE.

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The Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the Right Revd Jim Curry, has echoed Pope Leo XIV’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Bishop Curry said, ‘This is a humanitarian disaster. Desperately needed aid supplies must be allowed into Gaza to be urgently distributed to civilians. The human cost is intolerably high with tens of thousands of weary, regularly displaced people threatened with starvation. We need an immediate ceasefire to end the suffering.’ Read the full text of his statement HERE.

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The Church of England House of Bishops, which met in York in late May, issued a statement on the situation in Gaza. ‘We strongly affirm that the Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza and the West Bank have a right to live in peace and security in their homeland. Any forced displacement of people would constitute an egregious breach of international humanitarian law. We have watched with horror and outrage as siege and starvation are used as a weapon of war in Gaza, and as hospitals and health facilities have been systemically targeted. Over the last three months, the Israeli government’s deliberate denial of food and medical aid to an entire civilian population is an atrocity that defies our common humanity. It is the very definition of collective punishment and has no moral justification.’ Read the full statement via THIS LINK.

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On 5 June, the Methodist Church in Great Britain issued an update, making reference to the ‘Gaza and Lebanon Justice Appeal’ it had launched in November 2024 in league with ‘All we can‘ and the United Reformed Church, before adding, ‘The Hamas attacks of 7 October [2023] against innocent Israeli civilians, and the ongoing cruelty of holding hostages, is criminal. However, the escalation of attacks in the wake of these events in the name of self-defence by Netanyahu’s government – resulting in the persecution, killing, and repeated expulsion of Palestinian communities across Gaza and the West Bank must stop. This appalling reality is something that the Church can neither ignore nor condone, for any reason whatsoever. Read the full text HERE.