Jenan Taylor
6 June 2024
Australian Christians have been urged to call for permanent ceasefire and a two-state solution to save and protect civilians trapped in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Aid leaders want Christians to push the Australian government to continue pressuring Israel for a peace deal, to curb the mounting casualties and suffering the crisis has caused.
It comes as 19 international agencies including Médecins Sans Frontières warned the humanitarian response in Gaza was crumbling because of Israel’s escalated assault on the city of Rafah.
They said Israel’s ongoing offensive had reduced security and humanitarian access, despite international mediators continuing to negotiate for a ceasefire deal and hostage release proposal.
More than 36,000 people have been killed and more than 1500 injured in the conflict since it began last October.
Micah Australia, Oxfam Australia, Act for Peace and Caritas Australia said unimpeded humanitarian access was crucial as people in Gaza were physically and psychologically traumatised, sick and starving.
They said a ceasefire would enable humanitarian aid to deliver food, water, shelter, medicines and fuel.
Read more: ‘We shout and plead with God … that this terrible suffering might end’
Oxfam Australia Head of Humanitarian Lucia Goldsmith said more than a million people had fled Rafah and more than two-thirds of Gaza’s population were sheltering in central Gaza.
Ms Goldsmith said they faced appalling water and sanitary conditions, deepening concerns about disease risks.
She said in one area where there were only 121 latrines for about 500,000 people, an estimated 4000 people shared each toilet.
Ms Goldsmith said access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene were crucial for people whose immune systems were already weakened.
She said the only border crossing open for aid delivery was in an active combat zone and delivery was also hampered by long Israeli approval processes.
Act For Peace chief executive Elijah Buol said its aid partner in Gaza delivered medical care and medicines via a mobile clinic.
Mr Buol said the closed border crossings had severely diminished the organisation’s ability to operate because it was unable to procure or deliver the life-saving materials.
He said women and children were suffering because the organisation was running out of pain relief and antibiotic medications for them, and because they were starving.
Mr Buol said it was important that Christians advocated for and prayed for peace negotiations to succeed, so that medicines and proper food could be allowed through again.
Read more: Melbourne pilgrims to walk, pray for peace in Gaza as Lent begins
Micah Australia executive director the Reverend Tim Costello said it was important that Christians spoke up for a two-state solution as well.
Mr Costello said two states was the best hope for a sustainable peace and justice in that region because it would mean both states would be self-determining.
He said without self-determination, a state’s people would have no rights and no peace.
Mr Costello said many people believed there could never be peace in the Middle East, and that Israelis could never coexist with Palestinians.
He said it was a mistake to assume this because more than a million Israeli Palestinians had lived peacefully in Israel with citizenship since 1948.
He said Christians could reject the binary view of a Jewish versus Muslim clash of cultures, because fear of the other was exactly what the Gospel addressed.
“Christians, through their faith, have the resources to keep hope alive for peace, dignity and rights for all,” Mr Costello said.
Ms Goldsmith said Oxfam Australia’s partners in the Occupied Palestinian Territories also hoped both parties to the conflict and the international community would agree on a two-state solution.
She said it was hard to imagine how the region and its people would return to the pre-conflict status quo otherwise.
“I think it’s the only way we can see those populations living in safety and security,” Ms Goldsmith said.
You can donate here to Act for Peace, Oxfam Australia, and Caritas Australia appeals for Gaza.
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