A Church of Ireland woman who worked as a teacher in Israel has challenged comments from two Archbishops about the current Israel-Hamas war.

Jane Stewart, 80, from east Belfast, was speaking after Church of Ireland Archbishops John McDowell and Michael Jackson released a statement this week calling for “decisive action” on Gaza.

They viewed the current situation there “with outrage” as they watched “the desperation, dislocation, and defenceless resident population of Gaza".

They added that the international community “can no longer stand by and watch the cruel starvation of innocent people" and called for "an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the influx of every kind of appropriate aid".

placeholder image — Church of Ireland Archbishop John McDowell, left, and Archbishop Michael Jackson, released a hard hitting statement on Gaza.

Ms Stewart worked as an English teacher for four years in Israel just after the Yom Kippur war in 1973, when ten Arab nations launched a surprise attack on Israel during its primary religious holiday.

Now a member of the St Mary Magdalene congregation in south Belfast, she still has friends among Arabs and Jews there today.

Responding to the statement, she said: "I know the Archbishops do good work generally. But on this issue I feel they are very out of touch with the realities on the ground in the Middle East."

Paraphrasing former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, she added: "If the Jews laid down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs laid down their weapons today, there would be no more war."

"And this still basically holds true today. The way to end this war is for Hamas to release all the Israeli hostages."

Ms Stewart added that in her view, the Hamas fighters always look very well nourished when they appear in videos or photos, though she did not offer this description of Gazan civilians.

Earlier this week a leader from the Belfast Jewish Community also hit out at the statement, claiming it was one sided.