On June 5th, the Al-Ahli in Gaza City was attacked by Israeli forces, marking the eighth time it has been hit since the conflict began. The hospital is operated by the region’s Anglican Province and provides much needed medical support to the region. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza conflict, it has been hit multiple times, causing damage and devastation and reducing the hospital’s ability to run its services.

On this occasion, there was no evacuation or warning from Israel prior to the drone attack, which resulted in the death of four journalists while several civilians and medical personnel were injured. There were also other attacks reported at other medical centres, such as al-Shifa Hospital, further adding to the death toll and depleting precious humanitarian resources.

Around the world, Anglican churches have been making statements in response to the attack and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling for immediate and permanent ceasefires.

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem

On the morning of the attack, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem released a statement in response to the attack which stated, “The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms, calling upon the Israeli Army to respect the internationally protected sanctity of Ahli Hospital and all other hospitals throughout the Gaza Strip, as their beleaguered doctors, nurses, and medical staff seek to treat those innocents, mostly women and children, who have been severely injured in continued military assaults. We further call upon the leaders of the international community to enforce the combatants' adherence to the Fourth Geneva Convention with respect to its provisions for special protections for hospitals, medical personnel, journalists, and civilians in general.

“Finally, we bid Christians and others of goodwill around the world to join us in their continued prayers and efforts to bring this conflict to a speedy end, leading to the release of all captives, the more comprehensive treatment of the wounded, the feeding of the desperately hungry, and the rebuilding of the tens of thousands of homes and hundreds of public facilities that have been destroyed. Only in this way, we believe, can the healing begin, and the pathway towards a just and lasting peace open for all of those living in our beloved Holy Land.”

The Church of England

The Most Revd and Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York and Primate of England, shared a statement, saying, “Standing with Archbishop Hosam and our Palestinian Anglican sisters and brothers, I condemn yet another callous, reckless attack on the Anglican-run Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. […] This is part of a relentless and outrageous pattern of attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities in Gaza. There is no justification for this under international humanitarian law. These bombings must stop.”

The Episcopal Church

The Episcopal Church was quick to call an online prayer meeting through social media, upon the news of this latest attack on the June 5th, calling together people of faith to join and pray together later that day. Participants in this virtual prayer meeting held by The Episcopal Church heard the first-hand, verbal account of the Very Revd Canon Richard Sewell, Dean of Saint George’s College in Jerusalem, of the situation as he sees it in Gaza.

Revd Canon Richard said, “I will maintain that our hospital is not a suitable target under humanitarian law and it must stop. The world should be appalled.” He went on to say, “The staff are heroic, despite inadequate food, equipment and medical supplies, they just keep going.”

The Episcopal Church stated via their Facebook page on June 5th, “We in The Episcopal Church stand with Archbishop Hosam Naoum and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem in condemning this attack. We urge the Israeli government to respect international human rights law.”

On June 6th the Episcopal Church shared a prayer to their Facebook page: “O God, you see the blood and cries coming from the ground at Al-Ahli Hospital. We bring before you our grief too deep for words, and anger too heavy to bear. You see the father dying next to his injured son, you see the journalists who can no longer speak, the healers struck while tending to the broken, and all who were injured. Lord, hear the desolation of your people, comfort the mourning, shield the innocent. Through Jesus Christ, who died unjustly. Amen.”

Anglican charities

On June 5th, the Jerusalem and Middle East Church Association, an Anglican charity, described the event as “another fatal attack” and said the “atrocity adds to Gaza’s toll of tragedy”.

On June 5th, Alongside Hope (Formerly PWRDF), an Anglican, Canada-based international aid charity, shared their solidarity “with our partner – the Al-Ahli Hospital of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem – and its staff working to care for their patients, as well as the families of the journalists who lost their lives in pursuit of truth.”

On June 6th, the Anglican Board of Mission in Australia shared that they were “deeply saddened and confronted by news of the Israeli army’s most recent attack on the compound of Al Ahli hospital. Tragically, the attack claimed the lives of five people and injured thirty others, including four hospital staff.”

Other Christian traditions share statements

The World Lutheran Federation shared on June 5th, “Civilians are not a target in war and must be protected. Hospitals are not a target in war and must be protected.

“We join our Anglican sisters and brothers and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem in condemning this attack and reiterate our call on all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on civilians and on medical and humanitarian institutions. With them, we pray and call for the end of the war and the suffering of so many.”

Joining the call for world leaders to act to prevent further bloodshed, the Evangelical Lutheran church in Jordan and the Holy Land shared, “Our hearts are with the victims of this attack and their families, and we pray for the recovery of the wounded, including Al-Ahli staff members.”

“Al Ahli Arab Hospital is operated by our siblings in the Anglican Church. As our sister church, we stand with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and Al Ahli Hospital in their condemnation of this egregious attack on civilian life. This strike is the latest in a pattern of Israeli attacks on the hospital system in Gaza. As of May 22, 2025, the World Health Organization recorded 697 Israeli attacks on health care services since October 2023.

“These attacks against innocent hospital patients and staff reveal a harsh truth: this is not a war against terrorism, but a war against the human beings of Gaza. Those not killed with rockets are killed by a lack of medicine and food. As one of the only remaining operational hospitals in Gaza, Al Ahli Hospital is an invaluable lifeline to the countless in critical need of care.”

Further injustices on the West Bank

Targeting of healthcare facilities and aid points appears not to be the only present threat to peace in Gaza. The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, recently visited Gaza in response to the statement from the Church of England’s House of Bishops which denounced the war in Gaza as an “egregious breach of international humanitarian law [in which] siege and starvation are used as a weapon of war”.

Revd Treweek shared with Church Times after her visit to the region that her position was not about being “pro-Palestine” or “anti-Israel” but urged, “that every person should have liberty and equal dignity, and this is not what we’re seeing in the occupied Palestinian territories. All the power sits with Israel, and the Palestinian people have no way to defend themselves.”

As illegal settler violence reportedly increases on the West Bank, the interview with Revd Treweek reported that “Palestinians living in the occupied territories, who include a small Christian minority, faced intense pressure to leave, due to settler activity, the use of checkpoints to restrict movement, and land rights being violated”.

Find out more about the healthcare ministries of the Diocese of Jerusalem.