The largest Christian ecumenical body in the world has urgently appealed for the international community to “do whatever is possible to stop the bombings, negotiate a cease-fire and a comprehensive peace settlement”.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary General, Rev Samuel Kobia, has called on the “leaders of the international community, especially to those from the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom” to bring about a resolution to the conflict currently raging in the Middle East.

The WCC appeal also calls on the Israeli government to “give guarantees that humanitarian organisations will be allowed unhindered access to those in need of assistance”.

“Our hearts cry out to the leaders of the international community”, says Kobia, who describes the current fighting as “a war of ominous dimension and of far-reaching consequences” that is causing “unimaginable and untold suffering to the people in Lebanon.”