The Israeli Defense Forces struck the courtyard of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City with a single missile on 8 September, killing one person and wounding several others. The hospital is one of Gaza’s few Christian medical institutions, located in the heart of the city. It is not the first time the hospital has been targeted.
The following day, the I.D.F. issued a wide-scale evacuation order covering all areas of Gaza City, instructing residents to head immediately toward the southern Gaza Strip. According to United Nations reports, hundreds of thousands of residents are currently residing in Gaza City.
“Approximately 86 percent of the Gaza Strip is a militarized area or under evacuation orders,” the U.N. reported in late August, noting that no safe areas remain and the south lacks the capacity to accommodate the mass influx of displaced persons.
For Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, the evacuation order presents an impossible challenge. Mousa Ayyad, the hospital’s administrative coordinator, told ONE in an interview that the attack on the courtyard was “shocking and painful for the entire hospital staff, and all those who serve there.”
“As a Christian humanitarian institution, our mission since our founding has been to carry the light of hope and love in the service of all our people without discrimination,” he said.
“This targeting is not only a violation of the sanctity of a holy place that protects life, but also an attack on our humanitarian mission.”
Mr. Ayyad stressed an evacuation would endanger hundreds of lives.
“We have patients in intensive care who cannot be moved at all, and any disruption to medical equipment could pose a direct threat to their lives,” he continued. “Al-Ahli provides medical services to more than 700 patients daily. Issuing an order for a complete evacuation presents us with a major humanitarian challenge.”
He said the hospital is operating at 350 percent of its capacity with critical shortages of medicine, fuel and food, yet staff continue their work “with dedication and faith in our humanitarian mission.”
Christian leaders have also rejected calls to evacuate. In an interview with ONE, Archbishop Theodosios Hanna of Sebastia of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem said the churches in Jerusalem “demand and call for an end to the war of extermination. This war, this bloodshed, and this suffering must stop.”
He emphasized that Gaza’s Christian sites, including the historic St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church and Holy Family Catholic Church, are shelters for displaced civilians.
“If a decision is made to evacuate the citizens, or if the occupation forces ask them to evacuate and leave the north, we advise against leaving. The two churches and their citizens are a trust in our hands. We do not encourage anyone to leave.”
Among those displaced, but refusing to evacuate to the south is 32-year-old Montaser Tarazi, a Catholic accountant now sheltering at Holy Family Church.
“I do not plan to evacuate to the south of Gaza Strip at all, as the patriarchate in Jerusalem announced,” he told ONE in an interview. “There is no place for us in the south, and we cannot live in tents due to the lack of water and electricity. Faith drives me to persevere. We always pray to God to protect us and our city.”
Despite international appeals for a ceasefire, residents face the painful dilemma of staying in a war zone or fleeing to an unsafe south. However, churches and hospitals remain steadfast, refusing to abandon their missions.
“Our humanitarian duty as a Christian institution is to remain by our patients’ side,” said Mr. Ayyad, “and to continue to provide care despite all the surrounding dangers.”