Israeli bombing of Gaza Ahli Baptist Hospital: A blow to the world’s Christian Community
Gaza Ahli Baptist Hospital – Established more than a century ago, Al-Ahli Hospital is the second oldest hospital in the Gaza Strip. Sources say that the hospital was established in 1882.
The hospital was founded by the Church Mission Society of the Church of England. Then it was managed by the medical mission of the Southern Baptist Church. It was between 1954-1982.
Since the early 1980s, the Al-Quds Evangelical Episcopal Church has taken over the management of the hospital.
Al-Ahli Hospital, formerly Al-Mamadani, is headquartered in the Al-Zaytoon neighborhood, south of Gaza City. It is one of the largest health centers in all of Gaza, as it provides medical support to thousands of Palestinians, especially poor and working-class families.
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In the early days of the Israeli war on Gaza, Israel warned various hospitals, including Al-Ahli that they should evacuate, and that the hospitals would be bombed.
However, the management of various hospitals in the Gaza Strip refused to evacuate, due to the critical condition of thousands of Palestinian civilians who have been targeted by Israeli bombs since the start of the war on October 7.
On Saturday, Israel reportedly bombed the hospital’s Diagnostic Cancer Treatment Center.
Palestinians then began to warn that Israel was serious about its threats to target Palestinian hospitals.
The problem became even more urgent when thousands of Palestinian civilians sought refuge in Al-Ahli and other hospitals.
The displaced Palestinians were forced to leave their homes, following an Israeli military order that the entire northern Gaza region – estimated to be home to more than 1 million Palestinians – must be evacuated.
Most, if not all, of those killed at Al-Ahli were displaced Palestinians, patients, or their families.
Protests immediately erupted across the Middle East following the news.
US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders flocked to Israel to show ‘solidarity’ with Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government. (is/knrp)