The challenges of the coronavirus pandemic in the Holy Land have been "compounded by conflict, occupation and blockade", Church leaders have said. 

The Holy Land Coordination Group visits the Holy Land every January in an act of solidarity with the Christian community in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. 

This is the first year that the group has been unable to visit in person because of the pandemic, with the dialogue instead being held virtually over the past week. 

A final communiqué by the group listed a number of concerns, including the impact of Covid-19 on tourism, a key industry in the region that has been brought to its knees by the pandemic. 

It says that the international community "must hold Israel accountable for its moral, legal and humanitarian responsibility to make Covid-19 vaccines accessible for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and encourage cooperation by the Palestinian Authority, heeding Pope Francis' message that 'in the face of a challenge that knows no borders, we cannot erect walls'".

The Church leaders warned that the absence of international pilgrims since last March has "exacerbated" widespread economic hardship, increased unemployment, and pushed many more families into poverty. 

They also cited a "lack of political progress" and the "relentless expansion of illegal settlements", as well as the impact of Israel's nation-state law, which declares that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country.

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The combination of these factors, the Church leaders said, "continues to erode any prospect of a peaceful two-state solution". 

"Through our dialogue, it has become painfully clear that there is today less cause for optimism than at any time in recent history," they said. 

"Now is a critical moment for us all to strengthen our expression of solidarity with the people of the Holy Land."

The Holy Land Coordination Group is made up of Church leaders from the UK, Ireland, the US, Switzerland, France, Germany, Spain and South Africa. 

The UK delegation includes the group's Coordinator, Catholic Bishop Declan Lang, and the Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Christopher Chessun.

The communiqué includes a call from the Church leaders to their national governments to renew efforts towards a "just peace" in the Holy Land, and urges Israeli and Palestinian leaders to recommit to direct negotiations. 

It concludes with a renewed commitment to supporting Christians in the Holy Land as they continue to grapple with the pandemic. 

"While many of our own countries continue to face severe hardship amid the pandemic, we have a profound responsibility to support our fellow Christians in the Holy Land," they say.

"Church schools, clinics, hospitals and other social projects including the work of Caritas, while under severe pressure, are models of charity, justice, and peace.

"These Christian institutions are vital in bringing together people from many different backgrounds to serve the common good of all."

The statement ends: "The Christian community, though small, is an important guarantor of social cohesion and a bearer of hope for a better future.

"We eagerly await a time when Christians from across the world can once again make pilgrimages to the Holy Land to witness and support this first- hand.

"Until that point, we encourage our communities to provide any assistance that may be possible and hold all the region's peoples in our prayers."