The World Council of Churches views with alarm and great dismay the confrontations now underway in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, which have already claimed a terrible toll of dead and injured.

The deep frustration of the Palestinian people in the face of new occupations of land, confiscations of property, destruction of homes, restrictions of movement and economic disaster is understandable. So is the long-standing fear of the Israelis for their security. However, this new violence, whose victims have been overwhelmingly among unarmed civilian Palestinians, is unacceptable and poses grave dangers to the region as a whole.

The State of Israel must withdraw immediately all its armed forces from the Palestinian Autonomous Territory. Their presence is in violation of the Oslo Accords. The Palestine National Authority has responsibility under the Accords for maintaining law and order in the region over which it governs, and must be free to do so with a minimum of force and respect for its people.

There are those on both sides who believe that the Middle East peace process, which raised such hopes around the world, is dead. We do not accept this judgement. But for the peace process to be revived, both sides must hold firmly to the obligations they have undertaken, and to the time-table established for implementing the terms of their agreement. At the same time, governments in and beyond the region must assume their full responsibilities now, before the hope of peace and the promise of justice in the Middle East is damaged beyond repair.

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 330, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. ITs staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.