ATHENS 

Bulgarian Orthodox Church on Friday called for an immediate and unconditional end to Israeli blockade on Gaza.

“For months, the world community has witnessed the cruel siege of the Gaza Strip, which has led to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Thousands of our brothers and sisters have already lost their lives; dozens are injured; two million people are doomed to a shortage of food, drinking water, medicine, electricity and fuel, while bombs continue to fall over their heads. Innocent and unarmed people die every day, many young children, women, the elderly, defenseless, sick and vulnerable people,” the church said in a statement.

“The imposed blockade, understood as a “collective punishment” over hundreds of thousands of innocent people, contradicts all norms of international law, universal human morality, but above all and most of all, the divine gospel law,” it underlined.

“We cannot remain silent, indifferent and indifferent. Therefore, we insist on an immediate and unconditional end to the blockade, for free and guaranteed access for humanitarian aid and medical teams,” the church said.

Against this backdrop, the church urged competent and responsible national and international organizations and religious communities to exert real pressure for a permanent cessation of hostilities and for the protection of the civilian population.

“We remind you that any inaction in the face of the obvious suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is complicity,” it noted.

On Thursday, Israeli forces attacked the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza, killing three people and injuring several others.

In its months-long deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has bombed several places of worship, including the Gaza Baptist Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest in the Gaza Strip and the third-oldest in the world.

The Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, has been sheltering many displaced Christian and Muslim Palestinians since October 2023, when Israel’s offensive began.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 58,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.