When you cry out the Lord will say, ‘Here I am.’” Isaiah 58:6-9a

The price of war is paid in cries of children. Children who are hurt . . . Children who lose a parent or a sibling . . . Children who lose homes and schools. Children who lose even a place to play. The price of war, is paid by the children who wake with night terrors, and whose tears water the earth.

Hamas’s attack October 6, 2023, left twelve hundred dead and two hundred fifty hostages taken in Israel. The attack brought grief, pain and heartbreak, along with fears for children held in a hostile environment. The country continues to grieve its losses.

Traumatic as that attack was, Israel’s response has been the decimation of Gaza, with forty six thousand confirmed deaths, including more than sixteen thousand children. Thousands more have suffered injuries and amputations.

“The Defense for Children’s International – Palestine,” recently showed a documentary. In the video, “Through a Child’s Eyes; Genocide of the Palestinian People,” children were asked about themselves and their experience of war. It is heart-wrenching to see their faces, their wounds, and to hear their stories. Whether or not genocide is the best term, this war has left an open wound of trauma throughout Gaza. To hear the stories of the children, is to have your heart broken open.

Today the fragile ceasefire currently in place,is in question. Israel’s decision to deny access to aid, instead of honoring a planed second phase in ending the war, has thrown relief efforts back into chaos. Instead of negotiating, Israel is withholding food, medicine, tents and other supplies, to people who desperately need them. International law considers this to be a war crime. It is also contrary to the law of God.

Knowing our current government supports Israel’s decision, and is more interested in turning Gaza into a Mideast Riviera, while forcibly removing over 2 million people, is heart rendering. Instead of working towards a just peace, we are enabling further violation of people who have been oppressed for decades.

Throughout the scripture we hear God’s desire for just solutions. Solutions which bring lasting peace, where all people can live and thrive, without fear.

In the prophet Isaiah we read:

“Is not this the fast I require:
to loose the fetters of injustice,
to untie the knots of the yoke,
and set free those who are oppressed,
tearing off every yoke?

Is it not sharing your food with the hungry,
taking the homeless poor into your house,
clothing the naked when you meet them,
and never evading a duty to your kinsfolk?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and new skin will speedily grow over your wound;
your righteousness will be your vanguard
and the glory of the Lord your rearguard.
Then, when you call, the Lord will answer. Isaiah 58:6-8