JERUSALEM (OSV News): While Christian faithful across the globe prayed and fasted for peace in the Holy Land, some 500 people were reported killed when a rocket struck the Anglican-run al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City where hundreds of people were being treated, and hundreds more were taking shelter.
While Hamas officials claimed it was Israeli strike, the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] said intelligence showed that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group was responsible for the “failed rocket launch” that struck the hospital.
“An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit,” IDF posted on its Telegram account.
Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health called the strike “unparalleled and indescribable,” CNN reported.
Al-Qudra said in a statement on October 18 [local time] that “ ambulance crews are still removing body parts as most of the victims are children and women.”
He noted that the number of victims and their injuries “exceeded the capabilities of medical teams and ambulances.”
While Christian faithful across the globe prayed and fasted for peace in the Holy Land, some 500 people were reported killed when a rocket struck the Anglican-run al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City where hundreds of people were being treated, and hundreds more were taking shelter
The hospital was sheltering more than 5,000 people at the time of the strike, said Joseph Hazboun, regional director for the Jerusalem office of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association [CNEWA], a pontifical charity founded by Pope Pius XI in 1926 to help residents of “historic but unstable” lands of the ancient Eastern Churches—the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe. The organisation supports the hospital.
“The rocket hit the children’s playground and the courtyard in front of the library, at the back of the hospital,” Hazboun said. “The area hit was the place where most of the psychosocial programme activities were organized in recent years.”
Hours after the attack, Michael La Civita, director of communications for CNEWA USA, said, “It’s the only Christian hospital in Gaza City,” adding,. “It’s one of the most important institutions in our network of partners for decades. It’s a significant player in the region.”
La Civita also said “about 5,000 people” had been seeking refuge there.
“That includes those who were in the hospital itself seeking treatment, the medical staff, as well as folks who were seeking refuge, because it’s in northern Gaza and was under a mandatory evacuation order from Israel,” he said. He described his reaction as one of “disbelief” and “horror.”
The rocket hit the children’s playground and the courtyard in front of the library, at the back of the hospital
Joseph Hazboun
The World Health Organisation issued a statement strongly condemning the attack on the hospital, one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
“The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced,” the WHO statement said.
With the possibility of an Israel land incursion into Gaza still unclear as of October 18, the majority of the Gazan Christian community gathered at the Catholic and Greek Orthodox church compounds, and community leaders have been amassing necessary supplies to last for at least a month with support from CNEWA.
“They bought barrels of water for washing and normal use and bought enough drinking water for at least a month. We also supplied canned food, spaghetti, rice,” Hazboun said. Much of the purchases have been bought on credit including hygiene kits and fire extinguishers, he said, and they will need to raise almost US$25,000.
A surprise terrorist attack by Hamas on communities along the southern Israeli border with Gaza killed more than 1,400 Israelis. Some 199 Israelis are now being held captive in Gaza and family members fear they may be killed in the Israeli retaliation attacks. More than 2,800 Palestinians in Gaza have died since.
The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced
WHO
An estimated one million people have been displaced in Gaza in one week, a United Nations spokesperson said after Israel also issued warnings to Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south as they aim to eliminate Hamas’ leadership.
Israel says it is bombing Hamas targets, and has dropped pamphlets from the air warning civilians in the area to move. As of October 16, Hamas had lobbed more than 6,000 missiles into Israel as well, and though Israel’s defensive system known as the Iron Dome intercepted most of them, some have landed on buildings killing several Israelis.
The majority of Christians who live in Gaza City have chosen to seek shelter at the churches as they feel protected by Jesus there, said Gaza Holy Family Parish priest Father Gabriel Romaneli explained in a WhatsApp message. The priest found himself stranded in Bethlehem and unable to return to Gaza following the Hamas attack.
“They don’t know where to flee to because they say there is no safe place. The danger of death is very real in all of Gaza Strip these days,” Father Romaneli said. “Let’s pray that God grants the gift of peace, to Israel, Palestine and the whole world.”
CNEWA’s Hazboun noted that the IDF knows the geographical coordinates of the Christian institutions.
They don’t know where to flee to because they say there is no safe place
Father Romanelli
Human rights groups have said the forced evacuation and bombings could constitute a war crime, while Israelis say the terrorist attack which killed civilians was also tantamount to war crimes.
Along with his call for an international day of prayer and fasting on October 17, Pierbattista Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch, issued a special message for the Christian youth urging them also to pray, noting that while the prayer may not change reality immediately, it did “spark a light.” He also took part in a coordination meeting for Christian nongovernmental organisations to set up relief funds for Gaza.
Churches in Jerusalem held prayers for peace throughout the day on October 17. Abbot Nikodemus Schnabel led the monks and students at the Benedictine Dormition Abbey in a 24-hour recitation of the 150 psalms. These were uniting prayers recited by all Christians and Jews, as well similar to prayers in the Quran, he explained.
At the Franciscan St. Saviour Monastery, Father Francesco Patton, custos of the Holy Land, joined in noon prayer with the friars.
