A Call for Urgent International Intervention: Stop the genocide in Rafah and forcible displacement of the Palestinians!

Image: Kairos Palestine

Source: Kairos Palestine

"For God made not death, neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living. For he created all things that they might be: and he made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon the earth." (Wisdom, 1: 13-14)

Despite the International Court of Justice ruling that Israel is plausibly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and despite the provisional measures the court issued-including the demand that Israel take all measures within its power to spare the lives of the civilians- Israel has intensified its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and is planning for a horrific assault on Rafah.

On 9 February 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli army to submit a plan to his Cabinet for "evacuating the population" from Rafah before the army invades.

In addition to the 270,000 Palestinian residents of Rafah, there are around 1.5 million Palestinians taking refuge in the city. Residents and refugees alike live in desperate and inhumane conditions under continuing Israeli bombardment and lack of sufficient humanitarian aid. These displaced people moved from across Gaza to Rafah following the instructions of the Israeli army which designated Rafah as a safe zone for civilians. But Palestinians there have not experienced any safety or security from Israeli carpet shelling targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

There is no safe place in Gaza!

Israel's impending siege of Rafah will leave the Palestinians there with only two options: be killed, or leave Gaza "voluntarily" or forcibly to Egypt or any other place of their "choice." This is genocide and ethnic cleansing. This is not the time for people of the civilized world to be silent!

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." We urgently appeal to the churches, to His holiness Pope Francis, to the World Council of Churches, to the international community to take up the work of active peacemaking to stop this genocide and ethnic cleansing. You cannot later say, "We didn't know." You know. Your failure to act makes you complicit in the crimes Israel is committing. The Prophet Isaiah foresaw the day when peoples "shall beat their swords into plowshare, and their spears into pruning hooks." We plead with you to act today and tomorrow to bring Isaiah's vision to fulfillment:

- Call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and to protect the Palestinian people from forced displacement and destruction.

- Insist on a diplomatic solution.

- Put pressure on the countries which are supporting the Israeli actions in Gaza or are remaining silent to demand from Israel an immediate implementation to the provisional measures ruled by the International Court of Justice.

Kairos Palestine, the most extensive Palestinian Christian ecumenical non- violent movement, is based on Kairos Palestine document: A Moment of Truth, launched in 2009, affirming that the Palestinian Christians are part and parcel of the Palestinian nation, calling for peace to end all suffering in the Holy Land by laboring for justice, hope and love, embraced by the Christian community, signed by all historically recognized Palestinian Christian organizations, and endorsed by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem.

Email: kairos@kairospalestine. Website: www.kairospalestine.ps