By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - Church of England bishops have called for an immediate cease-fire and release of hostages ahead of Israel’s planned assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge.
"The relentless bombardment of Gaza and its huge cost in civilian lives and civilian infrastructure must stop," the House of Bishops, the upper house of the tricameral Church of England General Synod legislature, said in a statement on Tuesday.
It came after the Israeli army approved a plan to launch a ground operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, on the border with Egypt, despite warnings from world leaders and humanitarian groups that such an attack could be a catastrophe for the civilians there, who have nowhere else to go.
"The manner in which this war is being prosecuted cannot be morally justified," said the clergy’s statement.
It urged Israel to abide by an International Court of Justice (ICJ) order issued last month and to ensure that Palestinians have access to food, water, healthcare, and safety, things that have long been denied them.
Saying that they continue to advocate for the release of the remaining hostages and an end to the missile attacks on Israel by Hamas, the House of Bishops stated that all sides "must begin to imagine a future beyond this conflict: for a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians."
"This war can’t result in the consolidation of a system of occupation that has for too long denied Palestinians their rights and freedoms," stressed the statement.
Expressing concern over the impact of the conflict on community relations in the UK, the statement condemned "all antisemitic and anti-Muslim sentiment."
Since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, the Israeli offensive into Gaza has killed around 28,500 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.