The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem condemned an attack on Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Arab Hospital and called on the Israeli Army to respect the hospital’s “internationally protected sanctity.”
The incident occurred the morning of 5 June, when Israeli forces fired inside the compound, killing four journalists and two others, including a father who was escorting his son to the surgical unit for treatment from previous injuries. Four hospital staff were among 30 people injured.
CNEWA-Pontifical Mission has long supported Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, which also was hit in 2023. Since January, CNEWA-Pontifical Mission has partnered with the hospital to provide urgent medical services.
In a statement after the 5 June attack, the Episcopal diocese said throughout the Gaza Strip, doctors, nurses and medical staff continued to treat people, mostly civilians, injured in the conflict.
The diocese called on international leaders to “enforce the combatants’ adherence to the Fourth Geneva Convention with respect to its provisions for special protections for hospitals, medical personnel, journalists and civilians in general.”
The statement also asked people around the world for continued prayers for an end to the conflict, release of all captives, food for “the desperately hungry,” and the rebuilding of tens of thousands of homes and public facilities that have been destroyed.