DaysofPal- The Presidential Higher Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine has appealed to churches worldwide to take swift and decisive action to defend humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, cautioning against the organized Israeli campaign to outlaw humanitarian relief.
In a message sent to church leaders across the globe, Committee President Ramzi Khouri said Israel’s actions against international non-governmental organizations working in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem mark a deeply alarming escalation that undermines both core humanitarian principles and the ethical mission of the church.
Khouri explained that recent Israeli measures to suspend, prohibit, or revoke the registration of international organizations have impacted at least 37 humanitarian institutions, including several with explicit Christian affiliations.
He emphasized that these organizations have long provided essential support to hundreds of thousands of civilians living under siege.
“What is unfolding in Gaza today goes far beyond limiting humanitarian access,” Khouri said.
“It is a deliberate effort to criminalize aid itself and disable the institutions that sustain even the most basic conditions of life amid siege, war, and near-total societal collapse.” He added.
He underscored that remaining silent at such a moment cannot be seen as neutrality, warning that it instead constitutes a moral failure.
Khouri added that banning humanitarian work and treating relief efforts as criminal acts, at a time when Gaza desperately needs the daily entry of hundreds of aid trucks, amounts to a serious breach of international humanitarian law.
He noted that these policies also directly contradict Christian values, which place the sanctity of human life and human dignity at the center of the church’s teachings.
The committee called on churches around the world to take a clear, public position opposing the targeting and prohibition of international humanitarian organizations.
Khouri further urged unified moral and international pressure to guarantee the opening of crossings and the delivery of humanitarian assistance in quantities sufficient to meet the population’s urgent needs.
“Solidarity with Gaza cannot remain rhetorical; it must be expressed through concrete stances that turn faith into action,” Khouri said.
The appeal comes as humanitarian and human rights organizations continue to warn that ongoing restrictions on aid operations are driving Gaza’s civilian population further toward an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=71049
