CHURCH leaders in Jerusalem have made a renewed call for a ceasefire, after an Israeli air strike on the compound of St Porphyrios’s Greek Orthodox Church, in Gaza, reportedly killed 18 people, including nine children. Among the dead were a staff member of Caritas Jerusalem, a Roman Catholic aid agency, along with her child and husband. The church leaders call for a “humanitarian ceasefire so that food, water, and vital medical supplies can safely be delivered”. “We hold western church leaders and theologians who rally behind Israel’s wars accountable for their theological and political complicity in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians, which have been committed over the last 75 years,” they write. The leaders called for the immediate release of all the hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October.

Source: The Times October 26, 2023 09:11 UTC