Anglican hospital in Gaza cares for wounded during fighting between Israel and Hamas

In May, tensions over the evictions of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem boiled over into 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Before agreeing to a May 21 cease fire, Hamas fired rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli cities, while Israel launched air strikes that leveled buildings in Gaza. Those attacks, along with clashes in Jerusalem between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police, reportedly left at least 260 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead and hundreds more injured.

One constant before, during, and after the turmoil has been the ministry of Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem in Gaza. The hospital saw a surge in patients while also sustaining minor damage during the Israeli air strikes.

“Our ministry is a ministry of healing and love and reconciliation,” said Archbishop Hosam Naoum. His diocese operates Al Ahli Arab as a charity hospital, catering to impoverished families in Gaza, many of them Palestinian refugees. Gaza’s public hospitals treated most of the patients who were injured during the Israeli air strikes, Naoum said, and Al Ahli Arab Hospital’s 65 beds filled quickly with patients who had been diverted there for nonemergency treatment.