Over 140 Christian leaders call for ceasefire in Gaza, end to US military aid for Israel

The nonprofit Churches for Middle East Peace, a group of over 30 national church communions and organizations comprising Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches founded in 1984, organized the statement.

Those involved span the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Mennonite, Quaker and Evangelical backgrounds.
The signatories include Roman Catholic Cardinal Alvaro Ramazzini of Guatemala, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry, United Church of Christ President Karen Georgia Thompson, progressive Evangelical activist Shane Claiborne, Sojourners President Adam Taylor and longtime progressive Evangelical activist Jim Wallis.
"During Passion Week, Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox alike engage in prayer, reflection, and repentance. We repent of the ways we have not stood alongside our Palestinian siblings in faithful witness in the midst of their grief, agony, and sorrow," the group wrote.
The Christian leaders cited the World Health Organization (WHO), which reports that more than 15% of young children in Gaza under age 2 are showing signs of malnutrition and irreparable wasting.
Signatories of the CMEP letter also called on the US and other nations "to halt additional military support and arms to Israel and not be complicit in the ongoing military campaign that is having such devastating effects on civilians in Gaza."