Some 80 per cent of Gazans are dependent on food aid, 40 per cent are unemployed, hospitals complain of severe shortages of basic supplies and the electricity, sewage, and water systems are about to collapse.
“We in the church are afraid that this situation will only spawn more retaliation and revenge that benefits no one,” Younan warned of Gaza’s situation.
“We must not allow the deterioration of the situation to accelerate the vicious cycle of violence,” he said. “Lasting peace and security will never come at the point of a gun or in the rubble of the shelling, but only through hard and tough dialogue and the upholding of equal human rights and international law.”
The shooting has jeopardised the historic peace talk between Israeli and Palestinian leaders that nearly unravelled earlier this week.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had suspended talks when Israel led a military offensive against Gaza last week in retaliation to missiles that were fired from Gaza, killing one Israeli.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was able to coax President Abbas back to the peace table only on Wednesday before the shooting took place Thursday evening. The United States is brokering the peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
In response, Rice condemned the Jerusalem shooting as an “act of terror and depravity”, according to AP. Israel signalled Friday that it is still willing to continue the peace talks despite the attack.
Israel will move ahead with talks “so as not to punish moderate Palestinians for actions by people who are not just our enemies but theirs as well”, an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP.
“Leaders and people in the Holy Land – Muslim, Christian and Jew – it is our duty to our children to show them that there are other ways to solve our problems,” urged Younan. “It is our duty to work for the sanctity of all human life and to raise the voices of the moderates who comprise a vast majority of the people on both sides.
“We cannot allow the extremists and the cycle of revenge and counter-revenge to hold the prospects of justice and peace hostage,” he continued. “We urge our sisters and brothers in this Land, Israeli and Palestinian, to stop the violence: the missiles, shelling, shooting, rockets and incursions, and to restore basic human rights to the people of Gaza.
"Only through dialogue that represents all parties, including those we deem enemies, will bring a lasting and durable peace based on justice.”
