Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
People in the UK are being prised apart due to the conflict in the Middle East, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said, as he insisted “hateful voices stoking prejudice” must be challenged and repeated his calls for a ceasefire in the region.
Civilian deaths and the “humanitarian catastrophe” as a result of Israel’s bombardment and siege of the Gaza Strip cannot be morally justified, Justin Welby said.
The “bloodshed must cease”, he said at the Church of England’s General Synod on Monday.
While condemning the Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians and supporting the right and duty of Israel to defend itself, it is also the case that there is no moral justification for the “devastating loss of civilian life” in Gaza, he added.
He told the synod, before a two-minute silent prayer was held for the Israelis and Palestinians: “I want to make clear that there is no equivalence between the atrocities of Hamas against Israeli civilians, and the right and duty of Israel to defend itself.
“I have emphasised that previously and I do so again.
“But I also want to make clear that I do not believe the devastating loss of civilian life and humanitarian catastrophe resulting from Israel’s bombardment and siege of Gaza can be morally justified.
“I think we need to be able to say both these things – in fact, it is essential that we do.”
He said that, since a call for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” from himself and other Christian leaders during a visit to Jerusalem more than three weeks ago, “thousands more innocent men, women and children in Gaza have been killed”, while thousands of people in Israel “still mourn those killed on October 7, and hundreds of families still plead for the release of their loved ones”.
“So I repeat that call again with renewed urgency and even more force: this bloodshed must cease, hostages must be released and aid must reach those in Gaza in dire need,” the Archbishop said.
The situation in the Middle East is having consequences at home, too, he added.
“Here in the UK, the conflict in Israel and Palestine is prising people apart,” he said.
The latest from the Israel-Gaza war – in pictures
-
Palestinian children wounded in Israeli strikes amid the Israel-Gaza war wait for treatment at Nasser Hospital. Reuters -
Wounded Palestinians are assisted out of an ambulance to receive treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Displaced Palestinian children gather for breakfast at a refugee camp in Rafah. AFP -
Children inside a damaged building following strikes on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
People salvage belongings from a damaged building following strikes on Rafah. AFP -
A girl is assisted as Palestinians search for casualties after an Israeli strike on a house, in Rafa in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
A Palestinian woman is evacuated at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Rafah. Reuters -
Police officers push back a counter protester who snatched a pro-Palestinian placard from a woman during a demonstration in solidarity with Gazans, London. Reuters -
Israeli soldiers inside the Gaza Strip, amid the continuing ground operation. Reuters -
An Israeli flag can be seen inside the Gaza Strip, from the Israeli side of the border. Reuters -
A Palestinian woman evacuates her home, heading to the southern Gaza Strip. EPA -
Thomas Hand, the father of Irish-Israeli Emily Hand, 8, who was announced dead following the October 7 attack, then later confirmed as one of the hostages held in Gaza, speaks from his hotel where he was evacuated to in Israel. Reuters -
A residential building on fire following Israeli air strikes in Gaza city. Bloomberg -
The rubble from destroyed residential buildings fills a street in Gaza city. Bloomberg -
A Palestinian child drinks water as they evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip. EPA -
Palestinians displaced from Gaza city head towards the south. Bloomberg -
Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip. AP -
Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip on Salah al-Din Street in Bureij, Gaza Strip. AP -
A group picture ahead of an emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation in Riyadh. AFP
“Jewish people are experiencing the trauma of the biggest single loss of life in one day since the Shoah [Holocaust].
“They are a small global community and everyone knows someone killed or taken hostage on 7th October.”
He said that, for Muslims, “the sight of so many Palestinian civilians being killed, the majority of whom are Muslim, cuts deeply into the ties of the family of Islam”.
“While there are hateful voices stoking prejudice against anyone for any reason, we cannot stand by”, he said, and called on people to “rebuke those who are spreading vile anti-Semitic propaganda, and harassing and attacking our Jewish neighbours” as well as “those who engage in hateful Islamophobic attacks and abuse against our Muslim neighbours”.
He said people “have a responsibility to both speak out against all such evils and to play our part in building bridges across communities”.
