English Section

Polish Council of Christians and Jews urges Hamas to free hostages, Israel to allow aid into Gaza

14.11.2023 12:30
The Polish Council of Christians and Jews has issued a statement on the Israel-Hamas war, calling on "terrorists to release the kidnapped" and on the Israeli army to protect civilians and provide humanitarian aid to everyone in need.
Photo:
Photo:PAP/EPA/ATEF SAFADI

The Polish cross-faith organisation released the statement on Tuesday, public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency reported.

The Polish Council of Christians and Jews wrote that, by launching its attacks on Israel from Gaza on October 7, Hamas "violated the right to live and the right to dignity" of Israeli civilians.

The statement added that these attacks had sparked a war "in which hundreds of thousands of people on both sides have suffered."

The Council said: "We expect that the terrorists will release the kidnapped and that the Israeli army will protect civilians against the consequences of the fighting and provide humanitarian aid to everyone in need."

"The Israeli authorities should also unreservedly punish attacks carried out by Jewish settlers against their Arab neighbours," it added.

The Polish Council of Christians and Jews stressed that "political solutions that go beyond a temporary ceasefire must recognise the right of every community to live in freedom and secure borders."

The Polish cross-faith organisation also called on authorities and Muslim leaders around the world to counter the rise in anti-Semitic sentiment, which it said "may lead to further tragedies."

"In Europe, in the Holy Land, and everywhere else, we must be guided by a search for justice, a respect for life and a recognition of the dignity of all people," the Polish Council of Christians and Jews stated.

The war between Israel and Hamas broke out when the Palestinian Islamist group launched attacks from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 200 as hostages, the British broadcaster BBC reported.

Israel has since been bombing Gaza, as well mounting a ground assault on the territory, killing more than 11,000 people, including more than 4,500 children, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

World leaders including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have said that civilians in Gaza must be protected, and there have been calls for a humanitarian pause, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, Gosc.plBBC