"Three prominent Church of England bishops have accused the UK government of contributing to a culture of impunity in which Israel has accelerated its de facto annexation of the West Bank. Guli Francis-Dehqani, the bishop of Chelmsford, Rachel Treweek, the bishop of Gloucester, and Graham Usher, the bishop of Norwich, visited Palestinian Christian communities in the occupied West Bank last week."
"Its instruments are administrative changes, continuous settlement expansion and growth, intensifying violence by Israeli troops and settler militia, the localised system of road closures, house demolitions, tightening access to water and electricity, deepening legal segregation and an unequal system of governance. Since October 2023, violent attacks by rightwing settlers on Palestinian communities in the West Bank have accelerated. A UN report last month found that settlers killed people, destroyed property and livelihoods, forced Palestinians from their homes and ripped communities apart."
Three Church of England bishops visited Palestinian Christian communities in the West Bank and heard people say they felt they had no choice but to leave their homes or die standing. They criticised the UK government's failure to publish its legal response to the ICJ advisory opinion of July 2024 ordering Israel to end its unlawful occupation. They said that inaction contributed to a culture of impunity enabling de facto annexation through administrative changes, settlement expansion, violence, road closures, demolitions and restricted access to water and electricity. Since October 2023 settler attacks have accelerated and a UN report found killings, property destruction and forced displacement.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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