Germany: Catholic and Evangelical Churches call for “peace and security” on first anniversary of Hamas massacre in Israel

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Almost one year after the Hamas terrorist attack, there is a risk of further escalation in the Middle East. “This also concerns the Catholic and Protestant Churches” in Germany, that look “at Israel and the region”. On the first anniversary of the Hamas attack, Germany’s two main Churches underline “with great concern the escalation of violence in the Middle East”. With “the massive launch of rockets from Iran into Israel, the situation has reached a new level”, the president of the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Mgr Georg Bätzing, and the president of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Revd Kirsten Fehrs, said in a joint statement. The terrorist attack on 7 October 2023 was “an unprecedented attack on the Israeli population and the security of the country”, “following which Israel claimed its right to self-defence and responded with full determination”, Mgr Bätzing and Revd Fehrs explained. Although this reaction was “understandable and justified in principle, one cannot help but note that Israel’s military reaction and subsequent fighting in the Gaza Strip resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians”. “We are on the side of the Israeli people who fear for their own safety and hope that the hostages will be released”, Bätzing and Fehrs said. But at the same time, we remember the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, “where many are at the mercy of attacks by radical settlers”. The bishops are also close to the Lebanese people who are victims of the conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist movement. “We pray – Bätzing and Fehrs said – that all wisdom and political resolve be invested in political solutions that allow the people of the Middle East to live in security and peace”. Then comes a call for an immediate ceasefire throughout the region.

Fonte: Agensir