SA Christian leaders will visit Bethlehem and Jerusalem in solidarity with Palestinians amid ongoing conflict with Israel.

• A South African delegation of Christian leaders will spend Christmas in Bethlehem and Jerusalem in a show of solidarity with Palestinians amid an ongoing conflict with Israel.
• The SA Council of Churches said the delegation would return to South Africa on 26 December.
• It lamented the extent of the war which prevented aid from reaching Palestine, labelling Israel’s attack as war crimes.

South African Christian leaders are part of a delegation from around the world who will spend Christmas in Bethlehem with Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in Palestine. 

The SA Council of Churches said Reverend Frank Chikane, Archbishop Thami Ngcana, Dean Michael Weeder, and Ds Riaan de Villiers are among those who will gather with international leaders in the embattled country. 

Kairos Palestine, which will host the delegation in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, organised the visit jointly with Kairos Southern Africa.

The council said the group would meet former Palestinian prisoners in Jerusalem and visit holy sites before convening for a midnight Christmas mass in Bethlehem. 

“The genocide, which Palestinians see as a continuation of the Nakba [Catastrophe], which started in 1947, has been happening on the watch of the international community without lifting a finger to stop it.

“By [19 December], the official death toll in Gaza reached about 19 000 Palestinians killed over just more than two months,” it added.

“Of these, more than 8 000 are children, more than 6 200 are women and 678 are elderly.” 

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The council said the continued destruction emanating from the attack prevented aid, including from the UN, from reaching victims. 

“Blockading supplies of food deliberately starve Palestinians and patients are left to die because of lack of medical supplies which are also blocked,” it added, saying the attacks amounted to humanitarian crimes the International Criminal Court (ICC) must prosecute.

“These acts of the Israelis are not just acts of terrorism but crimes against humanity in terms of international law.

“And those who are responsible, including those who support this genocide, must be brought to book through the ICC.”

News24 reported earlier the UN Security Council would try to pass a resolution on Thursday calling for a ceasefire after previous efforts to win Washington’s backing fell short.

The vote was postponed on Wednesday due to diplomatic row at UN headquarters in Manhattan, despite deteriorating conditions in Gaza and a mounting death toll.

The South African government has on several occasions expressed its support for Palestine and recalled its diplomatic staff from Israel.