"With hearts filled with pain and anger, we in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land are following the horrific images, scenes, and reports being reported by the media about a famine striking the Gaza Strip, amid shameful international silence and inability to save the innocent," the bishop said in a statement.
He added: "For many months, the Israeli authorities imposed a stifling siege on Gaza, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and basic materials."
He continued: "Today, despite the limited quantities of relief allowed in, they are not enough to meet the needs, and are distributed at dangerous points that only a few can reach."
He pointed out that 113 Palestinians, including 81 children, have been martyred so far due to hunger.
He explained that, "In a tragic scene, the hungry and weak are killed while trying to reach crumbs of aid, and they are met with bullets instead of mercy."
He noted that "many international bodies, foremost among them the United Nations, have sounded the alarm, warning that famine in Gaza is imminent, if it has not already begun."
He pointed out that "both the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and the Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, following their recent visit to the Strip, reported horrific scenes of people waiting under the blazing sun for hours, hoping to obtain a loaf of bread. Their living testimony confirms that the continuation of this situation is a matter of life or death."
The statement added: "In the name of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and in the name of the international Lutheran community and the Christian and human conscience, I strongly condemn this crime of starving innocent people."
He stressed that "the use of hunger as a weapon against civilians is a form of genocide, aimed at forcibly displacing the people of Gaza and uprooting them from their land."
He called on "the world's governments, religious leaders, international organizations, and all people of conscience to act immediately to end this unjust siege and allow safe, dignified, and comprehensive access to humanitarian aid."
He denounced the fact that "food and medicine are stored kilometers away from children dying of hunger," stressing that "there is no room for silence, and no neutrality in the face of death."
The Patriarch concluded the statement by saying: “Today we offer our prayers for Gaza, for the hungry, the thirsty, and the sick, for the shackles of injustice to be broken, for the blockade to be lifted, for the ceasefire to cease, and for human dignity to be preserved. We pray for justice to end this genocide, and for peace to prevail in our land.”
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health reported 26,677 cases of malnutrition, while indicating that more than 260,000 children under the age of 5 are in need of food.
UN organizations and local institutions warn that the continued blockade and denial of aid threaten to lead to mass child deaths, amid deteriorating health and living conditions and the complete collapse of the medical system.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide, with American support, left more than 203,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
