The incursion is now entering its second day, resulting in the loss of at least 10 Palestinian lives.

"We express deep concern for the safety of our staff in the Jenin Governorate and have, therefore, suspended many of the activities in the area. We call on our friends and partners to pray for peace and safety for our team and the people in Jenin and the rest of the West Bank, with the hope that the situation will soon deescalate without further harm to civilians," Caritas Jerusalem said in a statement.

The size of Israel's attack has sparked worry from UN agencies, which have also noted that first responders cannot reach those gravely injured.

"We are alarmed at the scale of air and ground operations that are taking place in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, and airstrikes hitting a densely populated refugee camp," Vanessa Huguenin, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, told media persons.

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The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, both oppose Israel's plans for Israeli armed forces to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank.

The proposed annexations, which will begin next month, were promised by the Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu during his election campaign.

Nichols' and Welby's letters followed a statement leaders of Holy Land churches made on 7 May, warning that the proposed action would "bring about the loss of any remaining hope for the success of the peace process."

Thirteen Christian leaders, including the heads of the local Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Coptic churches signed the 7 May statement.

The UK church leaders say they "support the fundamental right of Israel's citizens to live in peace and safety." At the same time, they think this will only be possible through a negotiated peace.

Both Israelis and Palestinians must live without violence or the threat of violence, the Welby and Nichols stress.

Humanitarian organisations and the international community have also criticised the proposed annexations.

A particularly controversial aspect of the plans has been Netanyahu's promise that Palestinian living in annexed areas would not be eligible for Israeli citizenship or residence rights.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. However, commentators say an official take-over of the region could inflame tensions across the Middle East.

Palestinian leaders are concerned, saying the moves would void existing security arrangements and treaties between the two nations. Neighbouring countries like Jordan have suggested annexations could spark a much wider conflict.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation in Israel and Palestine, as it is undermining economic and social stability in both nations.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: Anglican Communion News

"The Holy See is following the situation closely and expresses concern about any future actions that could further compromise dialogue," said the statement released May 20.

The Vatican press office said the statement came after Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, was contacted by telephone by Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator and secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Erekat, it said, wanted "to inform the Holy See about recent developments in the Palestinian territories and of the possibility of Israeli applying its sovereignty unilaterally to part of those territories, further jeopardizing the peace process." Read more

Orchestrated under the Israel Antiques Authority (IAA) with support from Google, the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library is a free, online archive comprised of thousands of high resolution fragments.

History, now, is literally brought to the homes of people everywhere, accessible by computer and smart phone.

As IAA General Director Shuka Dorfman says on the library's website:

"We have succeeded in recruiting the best minds and technological means to preserve this unrivalled cultural heritage treasure which belongs to all of us, so that the public with a touch of the screen will be able to freely access history in its fullest glamour."

The first of the scrolls was discovered in 1947 in the West Bank, in what is often called one of the most important archaeological finds in history, and certainly in the 20th century. Continue reading.

Source: HuffingtonPost

Image: Fragment from the Tobit scroll, an apocryphal text from Second Temple times. Shai Halevi, IAA

The proposed route of the Israeli wall will also affect the Salesian order's Cremisan monastery and winery, which will be on the Israel side of the wall.

The Salesian sisters who educate about 450 West Bank children fear their pupils will no longer be able to come to school, and the West Bank labourers who work in the winery's vineyards and maintain the Salesian buildings fear they will lose their jobs.

Not only will the workers be on the other side of the wall and need permits to travel to the winery, but the wall will also separate the monastery from grapes supplied from other religious communities on the West Bank.

"Proceeding with this plan will cut families off from agricultural and recreational lands, other family members, water sources, and schools — including depriving Christian Palestinian youth of fellowship with their peers," said Bishop Richard Pates, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on international justice and peace.

"The Cremisan Valley situation is a microcosm of a protracted pattern that has serious implications for the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Bishop Pates said in a letter to recently-retired US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"As the wall moves and constricts more and more communities in the West Bank, the possibility of a future resolution becomes less likely.

"Moving the wall and disassociating Palestinian families from their lands and livelihoods will incite more resentment against the state of Israel among residents of the West Bank, not less, increasing the frustrations that can lead to violence."

In addition to its range of table wines, the Cremisan winery makes altar wine that is used in many of the shrines of the Holy Land — and is also exported to churches in Britain.

Sources:

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

AsiaNews

Catholics Confront Global Poverty

Catholic Herald

Image: CNEWA

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, built over the cave venerated as Christ's birthplace, is the oldest complete church in the Christian world. It was dedicated in 339.

Unesco also granted the site endangered status and funding for repairs — despite strong objections from the United States and Israel.

Bethlehem is in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule. Israel saw the Palestinian move to gain world heritage status for the church as an effort to embarrass Israel on the world stage.

Last year, Unesco granted the Palestinians full membership, a decision seen at the time as a boost to their bid, since largely stalled, to win unilateral statehood recognition from the United Nations.

The Palestinian Authority's request included part of the Pilgrimage Route, the path which tradition says Joseph and Mary took to the city on their journey from Nazareth 2000 years ago.

The Palestinian government plans to register about 20 more sites with Unesco, including the ancient city of Jericho and the archaeological site of Sebastia — a traditional site for the burial of St John the Baptist.

The Church of the Nativity is almost wholly a Greek Orthodox place of worship, while the Armenian Orthodox and Catholics have rights to some areas.

More than two million people visit the church each year.

Commenting on Unesco's decision, the Franciscan Custodian of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzabella, OFM, said all three churches hoped that "holy sites will be considered first and foremost as holy places of worship, and that cultural and political issues, whether local or international, are excluded from their management, daily life and dynamics".

Sources:

The Guardian

Custodia Terrae Sanctae

Seetheholyland

Image: Seetheholyland