(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Early Sunday morning, the Israeli military bombed the al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, putting the medical facility out of service.
According to Middle East Eye, Gaza’s Civil Defense said the bombing caused “the destruction of the surgery building and the oxygen generation station for the intensive care units.” The strike damaged other buildings, including the adjoining St. Phillip’s Church.
The Civil Defense said the strike hit the hospital “minutes” after the Israeli military ordered the hospital to be evacuated. Eyewitnesses told MEE that they only had 18 minutes to leave the hospital.
At least three patients, including a child with head injuries, died as a result of the forced evacuation. The Israeli military took credit for the attack and claimed it targeted a Hamas “command and control center” but offered no evidence.
The attack on the hospital, which was founded in 1882, comes amid severe shortages of medical supplies due to the total Israeli blockade on all goods entering Gaza, which has been imposed since March 2. Hospitals have been overwhelmed since Israel fully restarted its genocidal war on March 18.
The Baptist Hospital is managed by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which strongly condemned the attack and noted that it occurred on Palm Sunday, the start of the Christian Holy Week that ends on Easter Sunday.
The Diocese of Jerusalem said the strike marked the fifth time the hospital was attacked as the Israeli military has systematically targeted and dismantled medical infrastructure in Gaza. “The Diocese of Jerusalem is appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in October 2023- and this time on the morning of Palm Sunday,” the Diocese said.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem also released a statementcondemning the Israeli attack. “This hospital, already strained by months of siege, stood as one of the last beacons of medical hope in Gaza, where dozens of healthcare institutions have been systematically destroyed. The stripping away of such sanctuaries of life and dignity is a tragedy that transcends all boundaries of politics and enters the realm of the sacred,” the statement said.
In the UK, the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, condemned the attack. “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 small Christian population celebrated Palm Sunday at two churches in Gaza City: the Roman Catholic Holy Family Parish and the Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrius Church.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
