Thirty-four UK rabbis have issued a statement calling on Israel to halt its attack on Rafah and to accept a ceasefire.

The signatories, mostly from rabbis who serve Progressive congregations include Reform’s former Senior Rabbi, Laura Klausner-Janner, the convenor of its Beth Din Rabbi Dr Jackie Tabick and the Senior Rabbi of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John’s Wood, Rabbi Alexandra Wright.

But support has also come from Rabba Dr Lindsay Taylor-Guthartz, an Orthodox educator, and Rabbi Zahavit Shalev, the rabbi of New Essex Masorti and a rabbi at New North London Synagogue.

The rabbis say they are “deeply concerned for the fate of the 133 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza and the suffering of all in the region. We therefore feel compelled to speak out against an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah.

“We fear that the ongoing war continues to put at risk both the hostages’ lives and those of many Palestinians. With an estimated 1.4 million people gathered in Rafah, one of the last zones in Gaza that Israel had designated as a ‘safe’ area, and a severe lack of humanitarian aid across Gaza, the consequences of the invasion will be dire.”

They say they “stand in solidarity with those protesting in Israel to demand an end to the war, and call for a halt to the invasion of Rafah, a bilateral ceasefire by both Israel and Hamas, the release of all hostages and urgent aid to be provided to Gaza.”