Civil Society actors in the participating countries of YTNF wish to express their solidarity with their compatriots suffering from the Israeli-led and US backed invasion of Gaza and Lebanon. In the same breath, we also condemn attacks of Hezbollah on the Israeli civilian population and call for an immediate ceasefire, so that further losses of innocent civilian lives will abruptly halt and normal people can return to their homes & begin reconstructing their lives.

War & violence are not the answer to conflicts. They only lead to further violence and further grief. Instead of investing billions of dollars in supplying sophisticated military hardware to the conflict region, foreign governments should insist that all conflicting parties should immediately return to the negotiating table and instead invest their money in peace-building and peace-building efforts, particularly those of NGOs in the region.