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Church debate over Gaza
Christians in the UK are urging the Church of England General Synod to pass a motion to formally engage with Kairos Palestine II, a document by Palestinian Christian leaders that describes Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocidal war and calls on churches to boycott Israel.
“Toggle Play UK Christians protest for Church of England to recognise genocide in Gaza Christians in the UK are urging the Church of England General Synod to pass a motion to formally engage with Kairos Palestine II, a document by Palestinian Christian leaders that describes Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocidal war and which calls on churches to boycott Israel”
The General Synod is set to discuss a report titled 'A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide' and a motion to engage with the Kairos Palestine document, with the legislative body scheduled to meet in its upcoming session from 10-14 July in New York.
The New Arab says the report calls on churches across the world to "isolate, boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel" and describes Palestinian Christians as living in "a time of genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement unfolding before the eyes of the world".
The New Arab also says the discussion has been welcomed by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) while warning against "efforts by pro-Israel figures to suppress debate within the Church".
In the same reporting, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis is cited urging the Church to reject the document, warning that it risks "undermining" the relationship between Christians and Jews.
Competing claims and quotes
A Holy Week letter cited by Episcopal News Service, the news service of the Episcopal Church (United States) in New York, says the horrific actions carried out by Hamas on October 7 do not justify the mass death of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military.
In that letter, Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church (United States), writes that "The horrific actions carried out by Hamas on October 7 do not in any way justify the mass death of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military."
The cath.ch report also says the signatories urged President Biden to have the moral courage to end the United States' complicity, writing: "We urge you to have the moral courage to end the United States' complicity in the ongoing violence".
Meanwhile, ChristianToday reports that Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis criticized Kairos II ahead of the debate, saying: "The content of Kairos II is deeply concerning and I would hope the Synod will see it for what it is."
ChristianToday adds that the Board of Deputies of British Jews issued a briefing opposing the document, warning that if the motion is implemented it will have "immediate harmful consequences for British Jews" and "do potentially lasting harm to Jewish-Christian relations."
Gaza religious sites and losses
Al-Jazeera Net frames Gaza’s religious destruction as part of a genocide war, saying Israel destroyed 1,050 mosques completely and caused partial damage to 191 more out of 1,275 mosques that existed before the war.
“Among the signatories are the names of the presiding bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States and of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as well as Guatemalan Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini Imeri, Archbishop of Huehuetenango”
It also says that despite an agreement to halt Israel's genocide war on the Gaza Strip, Tel Aviv continues its violations by launching ongoing attacks since its implementation on October 10, 2025.
The report describes the Great Omar Mosque in Gaza City as covering 4,100 square meters with a courtyard of 1,190 square meters, and says it was destroyed during World War I before being rebuilt in 1925 and targeted again in the latest war.
Al-Jazeera Net further says the Katib Wilayat Mosque shares a wall with the Church of Saint Porphyrius and was hit by Israeli shelling during the war, causing severe damage.
It also reports that the Church of Saint Porphyrius compound in Gaza City was struck on 19 October, 2023, as it was sheltering hundreds of people, and it adds that across the West Bank and Jerusalem Palestinian Christians face tightening movement restrictions and heavy-handed policing at holy sites.
