Displaced Palestinians gather on the coastal road near Wadi Gaza in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 9 during an attempt to return to Gaza City after the announcement that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a peace plan to pause the fighting. Photo: Associated Press

[Episcopal News Service] As a potential ceasefire takes shape in Gaza, Episcopalians and Anglicans hopeful for peace are also lamenting the news that an Anglican Palestinian woman has been imprisoned in a closely watched case that has raised concerns of Israeli overreach.

Layan Nasir, 25, spent eight months last year in administrative detention by the Israeli government without charge. Nasir, a member of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in the occupied West Bank city of Birzeit, was released in December 2024 but was convicted last month on unclear grounds in a court case that Anglican leaders said “lacks any legal or moral justification.” The court sentenced her to 7 1/2 months in prison.

On Oct. 9, the Very Rev. Richard Sewell, dean of St. George’s College in Jerusalem, posted an update on Facebook saying he was “shattered” by the news that Nasir had been taken to prison to serve her sentence.

Layan Nasir, a member of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in the occupied West Bank city of Birzeit, was sentenced to 7 1/2 months in prison on unclear charges.

“Layan and her family must now endure a further eight-month sentence in the brutal Israeli prison system.” Sewell said. “The timing is a particularly cruel blow but it’s a stark reminder of what Palestinians are truly up against in the continuing struggle which is not impacted by the agreement for Gaza.”

Israel and Hamas announced this week that they had agreed to take steps toward a truce to end two years of violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian territory’s densely packed civilian population.

Israel said the ceasefire would take effect Oct. 10, starting a 72-hour period in which both sides would exchange hostages and prisoners. Returning all remaining hostages has been a top priority of Israelis, while Palestinians and global leaders have urged Israel to end deadly airstrikes and military operations in Gaza, where more than 67,000 Palestinians are reported dead, neighborhoods were leveled, local infrastructure is in tatters and survivors face an intensifying humanitarian crisis.

“I urge all to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward,” United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said. “A path towards ending the occupation, recognizing the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and achieving a two-state solution.”

Religious leaders in the Middle East also have been responding to the news of a ceasefire and hostage deal. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a statement welcoming the developments.

“The Patriarchate ardently hopes that this accord will be fully and faithfully implemented, so that it may mark the beginning of the end of this terrible war,” the statement said. “It also stresses the absolute urgency of immediate humanitarian relief and the unconditional entry of sufficient aid to Gaza’s suffering population. Above all, the Patriarchate prays that this step may open a path of healing and reconciliation for both Palestinians and Israelis.”

In the Church of England, a group of four bishops “with a close interest in the Holy Land” said they, too, welcomed the ceasefire, praying it will “bring immediate relief and comfort.”

“After two years of unimaginable death and destruction now is the time for all parties to turn away from war and commit to peace,” the bishops said. “A credible peace must start with a ceasefire, but it will not last without a fundamental shift in the attitudes and behaviors that, for too long, have maintained Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and thwarted Palestinian self-determination and statehood. The settler violence in the West Bank must cease and the settlement-expansion program must be reversed.”

Churches for Middle East Peace, of which The Episcopal Church is a member, voiced “cautious hope” for the future of the region.

“After nearly two years of relentless warfare, widespread destruction and devastating loss of life, we pray this agreement marks a turning point toward peace, justice, and healing for all who call the Holy Land home,” Churches for Middle East Peace said.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

Displaced Palestinians return to retrieve their belongings from their homes in the area where the Israeli army operated in the northern Gaza Strip on June 4. Photo: Associated Press

[Episcopal News Service] An Israeli military attack June 5 on an Anglican hospital in Gaza killed five people, including three journalists, the Diocese of Jerusalem said in a written statement, condemning the violence as an “unprovoked assault against civilians.”

The deadly attack is the eighth time Al Ahli Arab Hospital, which is operated by the region’s Anglican province, has been hit by blasts and airstrikes in Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas that began with Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The hospital in Gaza has struggled to remain open to care for patients while under regular threat of aerial bombardment and hindered by shortages of fuel, food and water.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has only escalated in recent months after the breakdown of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Israel responded with resumed military strikes and new restrictions on much-needed humanitarian aid for the densely populated territory’s civilian residents – some of whom have been killed while seeking assistance at the few remaining aid distribution sites. The Trump administration this year has done little to intervene against Israel’s blockade of the territory, and on June 4, the United States vetoed a Security Council measure at the United Nations that would have called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

The latest attack on Ahli Hospital so far has generated little attention from Western news outlets, though the Qatar-based Al Jazeera has reported that the cause was an Israeli military drone strike. Two of the journalists killed reportedly were former employees of the Palestine Today TV channel.

The Diocese of Jerusalem didn’t say where the Israeli strike hit in the hospital complex or specify any damage to buildings. It said the fatal victims included a Palestinian father who was escorting his son to the hospital’s surgical unit for treatment. Thirty others were injured, including four hospital employees.

“The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms, calling upon the Israeli Army to respect the internationally protected sanctity of Ahli Hospital and all other hospitals throughout the Gaza Strip, as their beleaguered doctors, nurses, and medical staff seek to treat those innocents, mostly women and children, who have been severely injured in continued military assaults,” the diocese said.

“We further call upon the leaders of the international community to enforce the combatants’ adherence to the Fourth Geneva Convention with respect to its provisions for special protections for hospitals, medical personnel, journalists, and civilians in general.”

The Episcopal Church shared the diocese’s statement in a Facebook post, saying: “We in The Episcopal Church stand with Archbishop Hosam Naoum and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem in condemning this attack. We urge the Israeli government to respect international human rights law.”

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike to the German News Agency, saying it occurred in the hospital’s courtyard and that its intended target was an Islamic Jihad terrorist who Israel says had been using the space as a command center.

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, however, questioned such claims in a statement he issued expressing solidarity with Naoum. “I condemn yet another callous, reckless attack on the Anglican-run Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza,” Cottrell said.

“Despite our repeated requests, the Israeli Government has been unable to prove its claims that Al Ahli Hospital has been used by Hamas. Instead this is part of a relentless and outrageous pattern of attacks on hospitals and health care facilities in Gaza. There is no justification for this under international humanitarian law.”

The Anglican hospital also was hit by an Israeli airstrike about two months ago, on April 13, an attack that destroyed a two-story genetic laboratory and severely damaged the pharmacy, the emergency department and nearby buildings, including St. Phillip’s Church.

Ahli Hospital and other Gaza hospitals had been struck previously since Hamas’ initial 2023 attack on Israeli communities, when the militant group massacred hundreds and took many others hostage. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that reportedly have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins.

“Humanity is failing” the people of Gaza, International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger told the BBC.

“We cannot continue to watch what is happening. It’s surpassing any acceptable, legal, moral and humane standard. The level of destruction, the level of suffering,” Spoljaric said. “More importantly, the fact that we are watching a people entirely stripped of its human dignity. It should really shock our collective conscience.”

The Episcopal Church’s Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations has encouraged Episcopalians, through its Episcopal Public Policy Network, to contact U.S. officials about the crisis and advocate for peace. On May 30, it also included a prayer for Gaza and the West Bank in its latest weekly prayers.

“We grieve for those killed and wounded by the Israeli military at aid distribution sites, and for those desperate for life’s necessities amid fear and violence,” the prayer said. “We pray for the Israeli government to allow critically needed aid to enter Gaza.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

Changing the organization’s name was first prompted by a similar action taken by EPF PJN’s ally organization, the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church, which became known as the Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church in November 2024. In light of an imposed famine and the demolition of Gaza that some human rights analysts have characterized as ethnic cleansing, accelerated West Bank violence, and disheartening silence of some churches about events in Gaza, EPF PIN determined that circumstances likewise dictated its own consideration of the way its name represents its work. Similar to the rationale of the Presbyterian group, EPF PIN members expressed two primary reasons for the change: first, to emphasize in its identity the importance of the concept of justice in its work; and second, to express the reality that the overwhelming preponderance of injustice, oppression, deprivation, and violence afflicts the Palestinian people, not the people of the state of Israel.

The effective date of the change, May 15, is Nakba Day for Palestinians. Arabic for catastrophe, Nakba refers to the time in 1947 – ‘48 that saw the dismemberment of Palestinian society and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people caused by the forceful establishment of the state of Israel. Choosing this date for the name change reflects the analysis of some that recent events in Palestine and Israel comprise a second or ongoing Nakba for the Palestinian people. For EPF PJN, the day this year is a call for more focused, specific advocacy on behalf of Palestinian liberation.

An important point of consideration among members was whether the name change might be misconstrued as ignoring or abandoning advocacy for the Palestinian citizens of the state of Israel. The majority view, however, was that because Palestinian citizens of Israel commonly self-identify as “Palestinian” rather than “Israeli”, their interests will continue to be represented within the organization’s name.

At the time of its origin in 2012, Palestine Israel Network seemed a suitable name. There was then at least some promise, however slim or elusive, of autonomy and possible independent statehood for Palestinian people alongside the state of Israel. Sadly, recent events have put those possibilities on the brink of collapse. Becoming the EPF Palestine Justice Network is our organization’s statement of steadfastness and determination to continue striving for justice as the prerequisite for a genuine peace.

EPF PJN invites readers to visit its new website at epfpjn.org and direct inquiries to info@epfpjn.org.

Palestinians inspect damage to the Ahli Arab Hospital after an overnight Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on April 13. Photo: Associated Press

[Episcopal News Service] Anglicans and other global faith leaders have condemned Israeli airstrikes over the weekend that struck an Anglican hospital in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza, destroying or damaging several of the hospital’s departments.

Al Ahli Arab Hospital, a ministry of the Diocese of Jerusalem, had been struck several times previously by blasts in the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas since Hamas attacked Israeli communities and massacred hundreds on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel responded to that Hamas attack with an intense and prolonged aerial bombardment and ground invasion of the densely populated territory – strikes that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins.

The latest blasts at Ahli Hospital involved two airstrikes early April 13, according to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, AFEDJ. The attack destroyed a two-story genetic laboratory and severely damaged the pharmacy, the emergency department and nearby buildings, including St. Phillip’s Church.

The hospital has been described in international news reports as the last fully functioning hospital in northern Gaza. No casualties were reported from the blasts at the hospital, though the diocese reported that during the evacuation of the hospital, a child died while suffering from a previous head injury.

“The Diocese of Jerusalem condemns in the strongest terms today’s missile attacks on the Ahli Arab Hospital,” the diocese said in a written statement, adding that it was “appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in 2023 – and this time on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.”

“We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions. We pray and call for the end of this horrific war and the suffering of so many.”

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell released a statement lamenting the “unimaginable suffering” endured by the Palestinians who have been forced to seek treatment at Ahli Hospital. “For the only Christian hospital in Gaza to be attacked on Palm Sunday is especially appalling,” Cottrell said.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem also condemned the attack. “Sorrow grips us this Palm Sunday: A refuge of healing is struck in the land of the heavenly physician of souls and bodies,” the Patriarchate said.

Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire in January, which included the release of some of the hostages taken by Hamas during its initial attack on Israel. That ceasefire, however, fell apart in March, and Israel resumed airstrikes. U.S. officials have since been working with Arab leaders to restart ceasefire talks to again halt hostilities.

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe released a statement after the attack, asking for prayers for the hospital staff and their patients.

“No matter how we understand the causes of violence in the Holy Land, we can surely agree that we must support our fellow Anglicans in alleviating the devastating humanitarian crisis now unfolding in Gaza,” Rowe said.

Rowe also encouraged Episcopalians to give generously to the Good Friday Offering, the church’s annual collection in support of the Diocese of Jerusalem and the other dioceses that make up the Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. Gifts can be made online or in congregations’ collection plates on April 18.

Episcopalians also can write to their representatives in Congress, asking them to support a permanent ceasefire, humanitarian aid for Gaza and a just and sustained peace in the Holy Land, Rowe said. He shared resources provided by the church’s Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

The BDS movement began in July 2005 with a call issued by a coalition of representatives of Palestinian civil society: political parties, unions, associations, coalitions and organizations. The call was for individuals and civil organizations to engage in non-violent, punitive economic measures to pressure Israel to adhere to international law in its dealings with the Palestinian people. The BDS movement was inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement.

This 20^th anniversary turns out to be quite timely for those in the U.S. where criminalization of protest, resistance, and advocacy are on the rise, and spurious claims of “antisemitism” are becoming tools of authoritarian aggression. This ominous climate, recently highlighted by the persecution of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, calls for the kinds of creative methods of dissent that some have found in BDS.

There are three principal objectives of the BDS movement: ending the occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall; recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194. The focused areas of the BDS campaign over its first 20 years are academic boycott, economic boycott, cultural boycott, trade union solidarity, student solidarity, and local governments. The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights offers a list of more than 250 BDS “victories”, as of December 2024.

The Episcopal Church has not endorsed BDS. At the 81^st General Convention, resolution D005 “Solidarity with the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement” was adopted with amendment by the legislative committee, but then rejected by the House of Bishops. In other resolutions, however, General Conventions have addressed and approved in principle each of the three objectives of the BDS campaign: 2022-C013 Oppose Legislation that Penalizes Non-Violent Boycotts or Divestitures; 2018-B016 Develop Investment Criteria for Israel and Palestine Based on a Human Rights Screen; and two resolutions that call on the U.S. government to withhold financial or military support from Israel unless it complies with international law and human rights standards (1991-D008 Urge a Peaceful Resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and 2024-D012 Conditioning U.S. Military Assistance to Israel on Human Rights and a Negotiated Peace). In addition, The Episcopal Church endorsed participation in the South African anti-apartheid movement in resolution 1988-B052 Endorse the Boycott Against International Oil Companies in South Africa. The Church’s support of the principles of boycott, sanctions, and other means of economic pressure against injustice has been robust.

Contrary to a common accusation, the BDS movement does not seek the elimination of the state of Israel; rather, it seeks a state of full equality for all. We often think of boycott as an individual expression of disfavor against a specific product or organization; however, it can be much more. It is an expression of collective political will, a “critical tool in the construction of American democracy” that goes back to the very beginning of the republic. It can be much more powerful than individual choice.

In the Palestinian territories, a recent sequence of unprecedented events by the governments of Israel and the United States have made a meaningful political remedy of the situation nearly functionally impossible. Since October 2023, the damage to life and society in Gaza have been so nearly total that “reconstruction” would be almost inconceivable under the best conditions. But just as a tenuous ceasefire took hold, the new U.S. administration promoted a plan to take over real estate development of Gaza for profit and relocate its population, an idea approved by many Israelis. In the West Bank, large scale Israeli military actions  are destroying or damaging refugee camps and displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians. Annexation of the West Bank seems immanent.

Palestinians in the region and in the diaspora will determine their responses and methods of resisting these mounting challenges to their liberty and national identity. For others of us who believe in and work toward a just peace that includes freedom, dignity, and full human rights for Palestinians, this anniversary comes when non-violent actions like BDS are more needed than at any time in the past 20 years. EPF PIN encourages all members of The Church to learn about and engage in BDS.

Unlike tour companies that often only swoop in and out of Christian holy sites in the Holy Land, St. George’s College courses break bread with Palestinian Christians in the West Bank, meet with Muslim leaders on Haram al-Sharif, meet with Muslim women in a refugee camp in Bethlehem, visit the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem, and sometimes even visit Israeli settlers in the West Bank.  Through second-tier courses such as “Sharing Perspectives,” Jews, Christians and Muslims live and journey together as an interfaith community at St. George’s College, encountering the land and its people in the past and present, exploring historical, geographical, religious and political complexities, and considering how the Holy One is revealed uniquely in each of the Abrahamic faiths.

Modern Diplomacy estimates that up to 47% of all global conflict is rooted in religion.  The great twentieth century theologian Hans Kung said, “There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions and no peace among the religions without dialogue.”  St. George’s College is the Anglican Communion’s essential and primary center for religious dialogue and understanding through pilgrimage, formation, education, encounter, and reconciliation.

The armed conflict that began on October 7, 2023, in Israel and Gaza forced the temporary closure of St. George’s College for in-person pilgrimage.  To date, the College remains closed.  Never before has a crisis so existentially challenged St. George’s.  The Colleges $2 million annual budget is comprised of earned revenue streams (pilgrim fees, gift shop sales, non-pilgrim lodging fees, etc.) and through the generous contributions of its alumni.  In the current crisis, the College’s earned revenue streams have been totally disrupted.

In response, in October of 2024, the North American Committee for St. George’s College, which functions as an incorporated board of support for St. George’s, initiated a $1.19 million capital campaign to support the college’s ministry. The goal of the campaign is twofold: first, to provide funds to sustain the college’s operational costs during a time when the college is unable to host pilgrims due to the ongoing war in Gaza and, secondly, to build the endowment, which is the college’s primary source of funding beyond the income generated from pilgrim fees, for future financial resilience.

The Most Reverend Hosam Naoum

The North American Committee (NAC) is delighted to announce that as of the start of the Lenten season, it has raised just over $1.2 million in gifts and pledges to the campaign.  NAC president the Reverend Barkley Thompson comments, “The outpouring of love and support for St. George’s College is an incredible testament of faith.  Through this campaign, we insist that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.”

The Anglican Church of Canada, which is also represented on the North American Committee, is running a concurrent Canadian campaign, which hopes to raise additional funds.  NAC is further pleased to announce that committees of support in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand are initiating campaigns. There has been a groundswell of support throughout the Anglican Communion in recognition of the cherished role that St. George’s College plays in our common life as the official pilgrimage center of the Anglican Communion and a gateway to the Land of the Holy One and the Diocese of Jerusalem Due to this generous and robust international support, we have raised our goal to $1.5 million as our campaign continues through the Lenten season.

The Most Reverend Hosam Naoum, Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East, says of the campaign, “We are asking all our friends around the world to come together to help St. George’s College and to walk with us during the dark times of war and distress, so that we can continue to celebrate St. George’s as a beacon of life and love in Jerusalem and from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.”

To learn more about and to make a tax-deductible gift to the campaign, please visit  www.stgeorgescollegejerusalemnac.org.

Fatima Rehan carries her 2-year-old son, Mohammed, as she and other members of the Rehan family search Feb. 5 amid the rubble of their home destroyed by the Israeli army’s air and ground offensive against Hamas in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip. Photo: Associated Press

[Episcopal News Service] Several resolutions passed in June 2024 by the 81st General Convention speak to current events in Gaza, where Israeli hostages are being freed as part of a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel and where Palestinians are returning to Gaza communities that were leveled by Israeli bombardment during the 15-month war.

The Episcopal Church has long supported Middle East peace efforts and justice for Palestinians, and General Convention’s most recent actions also strongly urged the international community to take responsibility for rebuilding Gaza.

Those policy actions, however, didn’t anticipate the proposal introduced this week by U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Feb. 4, during a White House visit from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he favored relocating about 2 million Palestinians elsewhere rather than allowing them to return and remain in the densely populated Gaza Strip. The proposal of a sweeping displacement of Palestinians has drawn comparisons to Israel’s displacement of Palestinians from their homes starting in 1948 during the first Arab-Israeli war that followed the creation of Israel. The inability of many Palestinians to return to their ancestral homes in Israel has been a major roadblock in peace talks for decades.

Trump expressed a willingness to aid in rebuilding Gaza but, in an unexpected twist, he suggested it should become a U.S. interventionist project – an idea that was quickly rejected by Palestinians and many of Israel’s Arab neighbors.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out.”

It remains to be seen exactly what such a plan would look like in execution, if it ever advances beyond the proposal stage. Critics have noted that such a displacement of Palestinians, if it were even possible logistically and diplomatically, would run counter to international laws and agreements. And even some of Trump’s supporters have questioned why a president who campaigned against dispatching troops and money in foreign interventions would now be willing to occupy a disputed territory far from home, potentially requiring a U.S. military presence.

Episcopal Peace Fellowship released a statement condemning Trump’s proposal as “unlawful, immoral and completely irresponsible,” echoing similar comments from a United Nations official.

“We call upon communities of faith, human rights advocates, and all citizens who cherish peace and justice to join us in condemning this proposal,” Episcopal Peace Fellowship said. “It is imperative that we hold our elected representatives accountable and demand that our governments work diligently to uphold international law, protect the rights of the Palestinian people, and pursue diplomatic solutions that honor the dignity of every person.”

Churches for Middle East Peace, of which The Episcopal Church is a member, also issued a statement opposing any attempts to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza.

“The Palestinian people have endured 76 years of occupation and dispossession,” Churches for Middle East Peace said. “For the past 15 months, they have faced relentless bombardment and mass killings, yet many have demonstrated the intention to remain in their homeland. … The implementation of such forced expulsion would not bring stability or peace to the region. Instead, such actions would further disenfranchise Palestinians, deepen their suffering, and strengthen ideologies that support armed resistance.

The Episcopal Church’s official policies toward the Middle East outline the church’s continuing support for a durable peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Palestinian statehood

The church has long supported a two-state solution to the conflict and opposed Israel’s continued control and occupation of Palestinian territories, including Gaza and the West Bank. The 81st General Convention passed Resolution D013 affirming this position while emphasizing “our hope for all the people of Israel and Palestine to enjoy freedom, peace, justice, and national self-determination.”

Rebuilding Gaza

Resolution D013 also addresses the future of Gaza. “Rebuilding Gaza, continuing to build up the economy of the West Bank, and promoting security for both Palestinians and Israelis are the responsibility of the United Nations, Israel, the U.S., Israel’s other allies, and Israel’s Arab neighbors, all of whom should be prepared to join in historic levels of aid and investment,” the resolution says.

Another resolution, D009, focused more directly on the need to rebuild Gaza and the United States’ “moral obligation” to Gaza’s people. It calls on the U.S. government “to join with the United Nations, Israel, the European Union, Israel’s other allies, and Israel’s Arab neighbors, all of whom should be prepared to join in historic levels of aid and investment to fund the restoration and rebuilding of Gaza.”

It also indicates the need for “the restoration and rebuilding of homes, hospitals, schools, universities, libraries, factories, and farms; basic infrastructure such as roads, seaports and airports, along with water, sewage, and electricity systems.”

Sarah Lawton, the Diocese of California deputy who proposed D009, told Episcopal News Service she wrote the resolution in response to reports that the devastation in Gaza “was among the worst the world has witnessed in modern warfare.” She called Trump’s proposal for the territory’s future “twisted and malignant.”

“The Episcopal Church’s position has been clear.” Lawton wrote in an email. “We pray for permanent ceasefire and the return of all hostages and unjustly held prisoners. We plead for a negotiated political solution to the conflict, in whatever form the parties can agree, but certainly based on self-determination for both Jewish Israelis and for Palestinians, with human and civil rights for every person, and a chance for the flourishing of all peoples in the land.”

Ending Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories

Israel first occupied the Palestinian territories as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, also known as the Six-Day War, in which Israel defeated neighboring Arab nations and took control of Gaza, the Golan Heights and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza and implemented a blockade in 2007 after Hamas took control there. The blockade had restricted imports and prevented most people from leaving. The most recent war between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities, killing 1,200 and taking more than 200 hostages.

General Convention’s Resolution D007, which supports a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, also addresses the occupation. It condemns “the increasing seizure of land and the escalating military and settler violence against Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.”

The resolution reaffirms past actions calling for “the building of a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis, with mutually negotiated solutions ending an inherently unjust and unstable military occupation, upholding the principle that no peoples’ right to self-determination should be exercised at the expense of another’s.”

Conditions for U.S. military aid

General Convention separately emphasized the protection of human rights as a condition of U.S. military aid to the region.

“U.S. military assistance and arms sales [should] not be used to perpetuate conflict, violate human rights, or contribute to corruption, instability, or violence in any country in the world,” Resolution D012 says.

The church also supports policies that condition U.S. assistance to Israeli and Palestinian authorities on their commitments to “measurable steps toward a negotiated peace agreement to end the occupation and violence on all sides, rebuilding devastated war-torn areas, and ensuring long-term security, civil rights, and self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

“The ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas has been far too long in the making, but it is welcome news for those caught up in this devastating violence.

“My prayers are with all the families being reunited over the coming days, and for those who are still held in captivity. My prayers too are with the people of Gaza who have suffered such immense destruction, deprivation and displacement. Now must be the time – again, so long overdue – for unfettered aid to reach the people of Gaza, and for the indispensable role of UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] to be respected and protected by all parties. May this deal be a precursor to a wider, more durable and just settlement in the region: it must not be a false dawn.

“Please pray for Archbishop Hosam and our Anglican sisters and brothers in Palestine and Israel, and for all the Christians of the Holy Land as they bear the light of Christ in such dark times. Pray too for the courageous staff of the Anglican Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, and those in their care. Across the West Bank, this war is being felt not just in the daily grievous news from Gaza, but through widespread intensification of the occupation. I pray this deal acts as a catalyst to bring freedom, justice and dignity to the Palestinian people as well as being a small step towards the long term security of both Palestinians and Israelis.

“We lift before God the peoples of the Holy Land, and for His justice, mercy and peace to be known by all.”

Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York

Episcopal bishops pose for a photo with Archbishop Hosam Naoum and members of St. George’s Cathedral during the bishops’ visit to the Holy Land. Photo: Carrie Schofield-Broadbent via Facebook

[Episcopal News Service] Ten Episcopal bishops are returning to their dioceses this week after what they have described as a “solidarity pilgrimage” to the Holy Land at a time when Anglican leaders in the Diocese of Jerusalem are responding to the needs of their war-torn communities.

The bishops traveled to the region on the invitation of Archbishop Hosam Naoum, who leads the Anglican province known as the Episcopal Church in the Middle East and Jerusalem, which includes the Diocese of Jerusalem. They joined Naoum in a worship service at St. George’s Cathedral on Jan. 5, the Sunday before the Feast of the Epiphany. They also traveled around the diocese to meet with church members, ministry leaders, Jewish and Muslim experts, and some of the Palestinians whose communities have been decimated by the Hamas-Israel war.

“We’re here to meet with and listen to and bear witness to the incredible work that is happening in and through the diocese here, through schools and health care facilities and local parishes,” Connecticut Bishop Jeffrey Mello said Jan. 3 in a video shared online after arriving at St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem. “We know how critical that work is all the time, and particularly right now.”

The bishops also celebrated Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7 after meeting with the Diocese of Jerusalem’s ecumenical partners, including Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.

“He explained to us that in the Holy Land, Christians see themselves as one, not in terms of denominations,” Maryland Bishop Carrie Schofield-Broadbent said in a Facebook post about the visit. “He spoke lovingly about Jerusalem as a model example of coexistence. We’re praying for peace and at the same time, we know that peace isn’t easy.”

In addition to Mello and Schofield-Broadbent, the 10 pilgrim bishops included Maine Bishop Thomas Brown, New Jersey Bishop Sally French, former North Carolina Bishop Suffragan Anne Hodges-Copple, Minnesota Bishop Craig Loya, California Bishop Austin Rios, North Carolina Bishop Samuel Rodman, Bishop Suffragan for Armed Services and Federal Ministries Ann Ritonia and former Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton.

“We thank our beloved bishop colleagues for standing with the church in the Holy Land during these extremely difficult times, and we look forward to sharing with them other special moments in the days ahead,” the Rev. Don Binder, a pastor at St. George’s Cathedral who also serves as Naoum’s chaplain, said in a Facebook post about the bishops’ visit.

Episcopal News Service contacted the archbishop’s office by email seeking comment for this story, which will be updated upon receiving a response.

The Diocese of Jerusalem has been on the front lines of the humanitarian response to the crisis in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel responded with deadly and relentless aerial bombardments before sending soldiers into the densely populated Palestinian territory. Al Ahli Arab Hospital, one of the Diocese of Jerusalem’s medical ministries, has remained open in Gaza despite the onslaught while tending to victims of the violence.

Early in the Israel-Hamas war, Ahli Hospital, while dealing with power outages and food and water shortages, continued to provide emergency treatment to Gazans displaced by violence as Israel ordered Palestinians in Northern Gaza to evacuate south.

Brown shared video and photo highlights from the bishops’ trip on Instagram while summarizing some of what the bishops heard there. “Every person with whom we’ve met, spoken or listened,” Brown wrote, “has communicated a version of these phrases: Thank you for coming here. You haven’t forgotten us! Please tell others so they’ll come to visit too.”

Brown, in a Jan. 10 interview with Episcopal News Service, said planning for the pilgrimage began in June 2024 during conversations between Episcopal leaders and Naoum while they attended the 81st General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Naoum was interested in bringing pilgrims back to the Holy Land after the onset of war had nearly ground such trips to a halt.

Pilgrimages and other tourism make up a significant part of the local economy, and while parts of Israel and the West Bank are again safe to visit, Brown told ENS that he and his fellow bishops often were among only a few visitors at the sites on their itinerary.

That said, “this was ultimately not about economics but about the importance of showing the archbishop and the archbishop’s people that they are seen, and they are not forgotten,” Brown said, especially given the complexity of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict. “I’m really clear I don’t have the capacity to fix or suggest solutions, but I can support the archbishop and assure him that the people of Maine – and, I think, the people of the whole Episcopal Church – care.”

The places visited by the bishops included Jerusalem’s Old City, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Mount Scopus overlooking the Judean desert, Chapel of the Shepherds’ Field and Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Christ Church in Nazareth, Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and the Princess Basma Center, the Anglican diocese’s medical ministry in East Jerusalem.

Celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany at St. George’s Cathedral, also in East Jerusalem, was a particularly memorable highlight for the bishops. Ritonia, in a Facebook post, called it “a wonderful day with fellow bishops and lots of reasons for hope even in the darkest of times here in the Holy Land.”

Broadbent-Schofield said in a post Jan. 10, as she and Sutton were making their way back to Maryland, that many of the people they spoke with were glad to be able to welcome pilgrims back to the Holy Land.

“I believe what I was sensing was a collective sigh of relief that the people of the Holy Land could once again live out their vocations of sharing with others the distinctive wonders of this land,” Schofield-Broadbent said. “In this land of the Holy One, God has uniquely equipped the people of the land to tell their stories, share the blessings of this place and spread the good news.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

Layan Nasir, a member of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in the occupied West Bank city of Birzeit, was under administrative arrest by Israel. Photo: post on X

[Episcopal News Service] Layan Nasir, a 24-year Anglican Palestinian woman who had been held by Israel in administrative detention for eight months without charge, was released Dec. 5 after Episcopal and Anglican leaders joined global authorities this year in condemning Israel’s detention policies.

“We give thanks to God for answered prayers and to the advocates who have worked tirelessly to secure her freedom,” The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations said in a Dec. 6 statement reacting to the news of Nasir’s release.

Soldiers arrived at Nasir’s home in the West Bank village of Birzeit at 4 a.m. April 6 and threatened her family as they searched the house before taking her away. She had remained in detention without a timeline for charges or a trial. Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and other bishops throughout the Anglican Communion called on Israel to release Nasir, who is a member of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Birzeit.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas started in October 2023, Israel has allegedly arrested 10,200 Palestinians, including Nasir, in the West Bank, according to Addameer, a Palestinian nongovernmental organization based in Ramallah in the West Bank.

“While celebrating Layan’s release, we lament the thousands of Palestinians who remain in administrative detention without charges, without a timeline for trial, and without contact with loved ones and religious leaders,” the Office of Government Relations said. “We ask that all Palestinians who are unjustly detained be released, and that all Israeli hostages be allowed to return home.”

The war has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 42,000 Palestinians and at least 1,200 Israelis, according to latest report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network, also known as EPF PIN, also released a statement Dec. 6. “While EPF PIN welcomes Nasir’s release, we recognize that the foundational injustice of Israel’s occupation and genocidal assault on Gaza continues unabated, indeed escalated,” the statement said.

Nasir had reportedly been detained previously in 2021 for nonviolent organizing activities as a student at Birzeit University. She completed her studies after being released from detention.

The Holy Land conflict was much discussed in June during the church’s 81st General Convention, held in Louisville, Kentucky. At least 16 resolutions related to the conflict were proposed for bishops’ and deputies’ consideration. One of the resolutions (D075) adopted by convention called for Nasir’s immediate release.

Over the last year, protests calling for a ceasefire and divestment from companies with financial ties to Israel have spread worldwide, including dozens of colleges across the United States.

“The Episcopal Church continues to advocate for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, full humanitarian access, and an end to impunity and violence,” The Office of Government Relations said in its press release. “We remain committed to pursuing a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land.”

EPF PIN noted in its press release that Nasir was released at the same time a report from Amnesty International was published, concluding after an investigation that Israelis committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

“EPF PIN will continue to strive for just peace for Palestinians,” the press release said.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.