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Church protests closure of its Gaza hospital by Israeli evacuation orders

by Reuters Journalist
2024-07-09T144804Z_1_LOP745609072024RP1_RTRMADP_BASEIMAGE-960X540_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA-WOUNDED.JPG - Banner image

The Anglican and Episcopal Church in Jerusalem have protested the closure of Al-Ahli Arab Anglican Hospital in Gaza City as a result of the evacuation of several residential districts ordered by the Israeli military.

A statement issued in the name of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem said the hospital has been "compelled to close by the Israeli army".

On Sunday evening, a large amount of firing from drones occurred in the immediate vicinity of the hospital, it said.

"This was followed by an IDF (Israeli military) announcement that the area had been declared a red zone and that everyone should immediately evacuate all the buildings including everyone in the hospital," the statement said.

The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem said that Israeli forces had declared the hospital's immediate vicinity a "red zone" and conducted a series of drone strikes nearby. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby also condemned the closure, saying that it "puts injured and sick people in even greater danger".

Richard Sewell, the Dean of St George's College, Jerusalem, told Premier: "Our ministry in Gaza is a hospital. In a war, what you've got to have is medical care - for anybody and everybody."

Contacted by Reuters, the Israeli military said in a statement it called on civilians in specific areas of Gaza City to move out to minimise the risk to them, but that it had told Palestinian health officials and the international community that there was no need to evacuate hospitals in the area.

New evacuation orders to Palestinian families and residents of several eastern Gaza City suburbs had caused a new wave of displacement of thousands of people.

In a time when injured Palestinians have few options available for treatment, the closure of the hospital forced Palestinian health officials to move injured patients to another hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

"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," said Archbishop Hosam Naoum, Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Jerusalem.

Archbishop Naoum urged Israel to allow the opening of the hospital and an end to the targeting of civilians. He appealed to warring parties to reach an immediate ceasefire.

Israel denies it deliberately attacks civilians.

 

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