Gaza's children traumatised by conflict

|PIC1|Gazans are suffering from food shortages, lack of medical care, power outages and a long list of other problems, but one church leader living amid the turmoil says the children are the greatest sufferers of the Gaza-Israel conflict.

“Everybody suffers, but I feel especially bad for the children who are going through a very tough time,” a Christian church leader told Open Doors USA regarding the situation in Gaza.

“The children wake up several times in the middle of the night; crying or even screaming from fear and memories that come back to their minds,” said the church leader, whose name was not released by the ministry.

Children are living in homes where rockets are landing right outside their doors.

“Many children are traumatised because of previous situations in Gaza,” he said. “They have seen bodies lying on the streets that used to be their playground. Now it is all happening again.”

Nearly two weeks after the latest violence broke out, Israel is still considering whether to escalate its assault on Gaza by moving its forces deeper into the country and end the rocket attacks on Israel, according to Reuters.

More than 600 Palestinians have died with more than a quarter of those killed being civilians, according to UN figures. The current Gaza-Israel fighting is the worst violence the Middle East has seen in decades.

International leaders and bodies have called on Israel to stop its offensive, but the country’s military has continued its attacks.

Many Christian groups have called for a ceasefire. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's presiding bishop, the Rev Mark S Hanson called on the US Government to take a more active role in stopping the conflict during a news conference in Jordan on Monday.

A group of Lutheran leaders are visiting the Middle East for a week-long series of meetings with religious, political and community leaders in Israel and the West Bank in spite of the outbreak in violence.

Hanson called for Israel to remove its troops from Gaza and for Hamas to stop the rocket attacks on civilians in Israel. He also said negotiations must restart for “permanent peace with justice and a two-state solution”.

On Wednesday, both Israel and Hamas agreed to a temporary three-hour pause in fighting to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.

The humanitarian corridor will let in food and fuel to be distributed to Palestinians.

An estimated 2,500 Christians remain in Gaza and have difficulties leaving the Strip.

Open Doors USA chief executive Carl Moeller asked Christians in the West to pray for those in Gaza living amid bombings and ground surge.

“Pray that the war between Israel and Palestine is shorter and less devastating than what military and political speculators around the world are predicting,” Moeller urged. “Pray that Christian families will be reunited. Pray that the Gaza Baptist Church building will be spared more damage from the assault. Pray for all the victims of the violence in Gaza and Israel.”