The Israeli-Palestinian conflict affects many as the death toll rises and the situation deteriorates.This affects many people’s lives, including members of international communities whose loved ones are still in the region or the surrounding regions and tension continues to rise.
This armed conflict, started by Hamas on October 7th when they launched a huge military operation against Israel, has made an unprecedented amount of victims. The Ministry of Health in Ramallah claims that there have been 10,000 Palestinian deaths due to the conflicts, this number including children, journalists, military fighters and more. That is solely Palestinian deaths and does not include any deaths in Israel, so you can only begin to imagine how many people have died in total over the past few weeks.
As Christians, we should lift up all those who are in the middle of this conflict and pray for peace and wisdom for the governments- that a durable solution may be found and international peace restored.
Send relief, a Christian international relief program has provided several specific prayer points:
"Pray for survivors and thousands injured in the fighting, as well as hostages and prisoners of war."
"Pray for the families and individuals displaced due to the sudden conflict."
"Pray for needed ressources such as food, water, and medecine to reach those impacted by the conflict"
This conflict is hard not only for the people who live in Israel or the Gaza Strip, but also for the ones abroad who have loved ones in the region. “I’m not with my family, and even though we’ve been separated for a while, it's hard because they’re suffering.”, a classmate told me.
The situation has no end in sight with escalating conflict and tensions getting worse by the day. “The fight threatens to spill into places like Jordan, Lebanon, Iran—pick a compass point—where more than 100 million civilians are watching the war in fear, wondering if they will be next.”, Chris Cannon stated in an article for the New Republic.
The people watching from afar, including the friend I recently talked who is at a boarding school, have decided to leave it in God’s hands, despite the growing uncertainty surrounding the situation. “I think the situation is getting worse. I don't know how worse, but my parents have already packed their stuff, and are like ready to leave”, he explained.
We should offer our support to those who have loved ones in the region or involved in the conflict, while staying aware that sometimes, helping hurts. “People keep bringing it up, and the mention is straining”, he told me. “I tell people, they’re fine, but pray. Like don’t keep asking but pray for it.”
-Rose
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