Church leaders in Jerusalem defended a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Saturday, saying that they used it to seek an end to the violence in Gaza. The meeting had drawn criticism from Palestinians.
The meeting was announced by the president’s office on Thursday. Herzog was quoted as adding that he anticipated the “Christian world to express clear condemnation” of the tragic Hamas attack that occurred in southern Israel on October 7.
The gathering, which was witnessed by local church leaders and patriarchs, including Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, drew criticism for the Israeli military operation in Gaza from both the Palestinian community and the militant organization Hamas.
In a joint statement defending the meeting, the church leaders said the meeting was “not a mere exchange of holiday season pleasantries”.
It was aimed, they said, at “demanding, on behalf of Christians worldwide, an immediate cessation of the bloodshed in Gaza”.
Hamas had earlier denounced the meeting, saying in a statement that it was “shocked” by the image of Christian leaders in occupied Palestinian territories meeting with Herzog and accused them of not speaking out “about the difficult times our people are facing”.
The war erupted after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7, which left around 1,140 people killed in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.
Palestinian militants also abducted around 250 people, 129 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a relentless bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, where more than 20,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.