Churches condemn attacks on Catholic school, Anglican hospital in Gaza

Image Amos Trust

Source: LPJ, WCC, Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem

Church leaders have condemned an Israeli attack on the Sacred Family School which was being used as a shelter for civilian refugees, and the forced closure of the Al Ahli Arab Anglican Hospital.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has strongly condemned a raid launched by Israeli forces against its Holy Family School in Gaza City on Sunday morning, which reportedly killed at least four people.

The air strike targeted two classrooms on the ground floor of the school sheltering a large number of displaced Palestinian families. Among those killed was a senior Hamas administration official, Ihab al-Ghusain, the group's deputy labour minister.

The Israeli army claims that the complex was used as a militant hideout and housed "a Hamas weapons manufacturing facility". Tsahal said that it took steps to minimise the risk of civilians being harmed.

The raid on the Catholic school came only hours after Israeli forces attacked a UN-run school on Saturday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 75 sheltered there, according to Gaza authorities, including two UNRWA workers. The incident provoked the outrage of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees at the repeated attacks on its facilities.

Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip after the October 7 Hamas rampage, thousands of Palestinians in the enclave have sought shelter in hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure. However, Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding in these places.

In its statement, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned "in the strongest terms" the targeting of non-combatants, "or any belligerent actions that fall short of ensuring that civilians remain outside the combat scene."

The Patriarchate continues to pray and hope "that the Parties will reach an agreement that would put an immediate end to the horrifying bloodbath and humanitarian catastrophe in the region."

The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem issued this statement today, after the forced closure of the Al Ahli Anglican Hospital in Gaza:

'In the midst of escalating military activity in the Old Gaza City area of the Gaza Strip we are sorry to report that the Al Ahli Arab Anglican Hospital has been compelled to close by the Israel army. Sheila Tarazi, Hospital Director, reported that on Sunday July 7, between 6-7pm a large amount of firing from drones occurred in the immediate vicinity of the hospital. This was immediately followed by an IDF announcement that the area had been declared a Red Zone and everyone should immediately evacuate all the buildings including everyone in the hospital.

As a result, all vulnerable people sheltering in the hospital grounds, the staff and all patients had to leave the safety of the grounds of the hospital. Inevitably this placed the injured and the sick in great jeopardy.

To our great dismay, our hospital is now out of operation at a time when its services are in very significant demand and where injured and sick people have few other options for places to receive urgent medical care.

We are also deeply distressed that today, one of our ambulances was fired at en route to the hospital. We currently have no information about the condition of our driver and any patients who were being transported for treatment.

Archbishop Hosam Naoum, Anglican Archbishop of the Diocese of Jerusalem, said: "We protest the closure of our hospital in the strongest possible terms. In a time of warfare and great suffering it is essential that emergency healthcare services are maintained to treat the injured and the dying. We appeal to the Israeli forces to permit us to continue our sacred ministry of medical care and healing. We plead for an end to the targeting of civilians and all vulnerable people and demand all parties agree to an immediate ceasefire."

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev Prof Dr Jerry Pillay strongly condemned the attacks on the Sacred Family School in Gaza.

"This egregious act against a place of refuge and safety for vulnerable individuals, including children and families, is utterly unacceptable," said Pillay.

He also expressed grave concern over the forced closure of the Al Ahli Arab Anglican Hospital.

"We call on all parties to end the violence immediately and agree to a ceasefire. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this tragic time."

The compound of the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza City, sheltering some 600 displaced Christians, is not new to attacks by Israeli forces. In December last year, an Israeli sniper killed two Christian women, a mother and her daughter, inside the compound. An elderly music teacher sheltering in the compound was also shot dead when she tried to go home to collect some warm clothes.

Two months earlier an air strike on a building adjacent to St Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church killed several people sheltering there.

Pope Francis and the Holy See, along with the United Nations, have repeatedly appealed for the effective protection of civilians in the conflict.

At an open debate of the Security Council Security in New York in May, the Permanent Mission of the Holy See lamented that civilian infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and places of worship, have become "devastating targets, disproportionately affecting the lives of the innocent and defenceless."