Church leaders condemn Israeli military Palm Sunday strikes on Anglican hospital in Gaza

Beds sit amid the debris in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the Al-Ahli hospital, also known as the Baptist or Ahli Arab hospital, in Gaza City on April 13, 2025. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 15, 2025 / 17:37 pm (CNA).

Church leaders in Israel are expressing outrage after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a wave of airstrikes on Palm Sunday, with two of its missiles targeting Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. 

The Anglican Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the hospital, condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms” in a statement on Sunday, reporting that a child who had been suffering from a head injury had “tragically died as a result of the rushed evacuation process,” which reportedly took place in under 20 minutes. 

“The Diocese of Jerusalem is appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in 2023 — and this time on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week,” the statement reads. “We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions. We pray and call for the end of this horrific war and the suffering of so many.” 

While no other deaths were reported as a result of the bombing, the Anglican diocese reported that the “twin strikes” had destroyed the hospital’s two-story genetic laboratory and damaged its pharmacy and emergency department buildings. The diocese also noted collateral damage in the surrounding area, including a nearby church. 

Under international law, hospitals have special protection. “This hospital, already strained by months of siege, stood as one of the last beacons of medical hope in Gaza, where dozens of health care institutions have been systematically destroyed,” the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, Theopholis III, wrote in a statement on April 13. “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.”

Al Ahli is the only Christian hospital in Gaza and one of the last remaining major hospitals still functioning in the northern part of the region, according to the Associated Press. 

The IDF wrote in a social media post after the strike that it had been targeting a “Hamas command and control center inside Al Ahli Hospital,” which it said Hamas had been using “to plan and execute terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”

“Despite the IDF repeatedly stating that military activity within medical facilities in Gaza must stop, Hamas continues to blatantly violate international law and abuse the civilian population,” the post continued. “Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians or to the hospital compound, including issuing advanced warnings in the area of the terror infrastructure, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance.”