A PREDAWN Israeli strike on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, the last major hospital providing critical healthcare in northern Gaza, has sparked condemnation in Palestine and across the world as Israel continues to attack healthcare facilities.
Israel on Sunday claimed it struck a Hamas command and control centre at the hospital, without providing evidence, while Hamas denied the allegations.
The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs al-Ahli Hospital, condemned the attack, saying it occurred on “Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week, the most sacred week of the Christian year.”
It said the twin strikes demolished the hospital’s two-storey genetic laboratory and damaged the pharmacy and the emergency department buildings.
The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine, which is affiliated with the Anglican Church, said the attack constituted “a grave violation of religious sanctity and fundamental principles of international humanitarian law”.
The head of the committee, Ramzi Khoury, asserted that the attack was a direct affront to Palestinian Christians and the global Christian community.
Britain’s Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said in a statement on Sunday: “The Anglican-run Ahli Hospital in Gaza is a place of healing and care for Palestinians living through unimaginable suffering. In unbearable conditions, its heroic doctors and nurses have cared for civilians who have endured 18 months of devastating violence”.
“For the only Christian hospital in Gaza to be attacked on Palm Sunday is especially appalling. I share in the grief of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Jerusalem,” he said.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the bombing forced the evacuation of patients and staff. “We call on international institutions and relevant authorities to protect the health sector in accordance with international laws and agreements,” it said in a statement.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said the “heinous aggression” was “part of a systematic series of attacks targeting hospitals, schools, shelters and tents for the displaced in Gaza, within the context of a systematic war of extermination that violates all humanitarian and moral standards”.
PIJ blamed Israel for sowing panic among patients and staff by issuing a warning shortly before the strike. “The international silence on Gaza is forcing it to become a graveyard for law and humanity,” it added.
