13/10/2023 - The Patriarchs and Church Leaders Statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby:
‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee’ (Psalm 122)
Our grief and shock only grows greater as more devastating news and images emerge from the abhorrent terrorist attacks in Israel. The agonising suffering endured by those who were targeted and their families can scarcely be imagined. Our hearts are broken open by the grief of Israelis and our Jewish brothers and sisters around the world, for whom this trauma and loss stands in the dark and terrible shadow of the worst days of their history.
I beg that those who have been taken hostage are set free into safety, that they and their loved ones might be released from the horror of their captivity. The anger felt by the people of Israel at the cruelty they have experienced is entirely justified. Many around the world share in that anger.
But in the face of a ground offensive in Gaza, I plead that the sins of Hamas are not borne by the citizens of Gaza, who themselves have faced such suffering over many decades. The price of evil cannot be paid by the innocent. Civilians cannot bear the costs of terrorists. International humanitarian law recognises that, for the sake of everyone’s humanity, some acts can never be permissible in the chaos of warfare. I pray that Israel does everything it can to limit the harm caused to innocent civilians.
Over two million civilians in Gaza, half of them children, are facing a catastrophe. A humanitarian corridor and convoy are needed as rapidly as possible, as set out in the Geneva Conventions. I pray particularly for the Anglican-run Ahli Arab Hospital and all those caring for the injured, who need medical supplies and generator fuel.
I join with the US Secretary of State and others in urging the Israeli government to exercise their right of defence with the wisdom that might break the cycles of violence under which generations have struggled. Amidst the chaos and confusion of war, and as much as is possible, I join the calls for Israel's military response to be proportional and to discriminate between civilians and Hamas.
Pray for the people of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Pray for the future of the Holy Land. Pray for those who will weep, and fear, and die tonight.
Lord God, we pray, by your great mercy, defend your children from all perils and dangers of this night.
If you are able, please support the JMECA appeal for the Ahli Arab Hospital to continue providing life-saving medical care: www.jmeca.org.uk/get-involved/donate/current-appeals-0/al-ahli-hospital-...
Meanwhile
At about 7:30 pm local time today (14/10/2023), Ahli Hospital's Diagnostic Cancer Treatment Center in Gaza was hit by Israeli rocket fire. The strike severely damaged the two upper floors, including the Ultrasound and Mammography wards.
Four of the hospital staff working there were injured in the blast and are receiving treatment for their wounds.
The Diagnostic Center is the Crown Jewel of Ahli Hospital, providing cancer diagnosis as a prelude to various treatment options both at Ahli and in other facilities.
Next month, the hospital was due to open a new chemotherapy center there in partnership with Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives—a principal reason for the archbishop’s visit to the hospital last week.
Please continue to pray for the safety of the hospital, its staff, and the patients and refugees who are being housed there.
15/10/2023 - And the Archbishop of Canterbury's response:
Hospitals and patients in Gaza are in grave danger. The seriously ill and injured patients at the Anglican-run Ahli Hospital - and other healthcare facilities in northern Gaza - cannot be safely evacuated. They are running low on medical supplies. They are facing catastrophe.
The Ahli Hospital was hit by Israeli rocket fire last night, with four staff injured in the blast. Other hospitals have also been hit.
I appeal for the evacuation order on hospitals in northern Gaza to be reversed - and for health facilities, health workers, patients and civilians to be protected.
The evil and barbaric terror attacks on Israelis by Hamas were a blasphemous outrage. But the civilians of Gaza are not responsible for the crimes of Hamas.
Please continue to pray for all innocent people, Israeli and Palestinian, who are caught up in the terrible violence in the Holy Land.
The Patriarchs and heads of Churches in Jerusalem, including Archbishop Hosam, issued a statement Friday 13/10/2023 calling on Israel to allow food and medical supplies to enter the Gaza Strip, where “a grave humanitarian crisis has befallen all of us.”
In their joint statement, the church leaders also called for stemming the violence that has erupted since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel last weekend which took the lives of 1,300 Israelis. About 1,900 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict over the past week.
“We call upon all parties to de-escalate this war in order to save innocent lives while still serving the cause of justice,” the joint statement read.
“Our beloved Holy Land has changed dramatically over the past week,” they said. “We are witnessing a new cycle of violence with an unjustifiable attack against all civilians. Tensions continue to rise and more innocent and vulnerable people are paying the ultimate price as the dramatic level of death and destruction in Gaza clearly show.”
The statement followed Israel’s call for the 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza to flee toward the southern part of the territory. The 141-square-mile Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, has been enclosed in an Israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007 and has a closed border with Egypt.
The joint statement warned that the evacuation order “will only deepen an already disastrous humanitarian catastrophe,” noting that about 423,000 people “have already been displaced because of the destruction of their homes” and “Gaza’s entire population is being deprived of electricity, water, fuel supplies, food, and medicine.”
“Many civilians in Gaza have said to us that there are no realistic ways in which they can evacuate to safety in any direction,” the statement read. “We call upon the State of Israel, with the support of the international community, to allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza so that the thousands of innocent civilians may receive medical treatment and basic supplies.”
The Christian leaders also urged the people of their congregations to observe a day of prayer and fasting on Tuesday, Oct. 17 “in support of all those who have suffered in this war and of families reeling from the violence.”
“There is yet time to stop the hatred,”
the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches.
The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches have issued a further statement today
JERUSALEM, Wednesday, October 18, 2023 – The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem today denounced the massacre of hundreds of civilians killed by an Israeli missile strike at the |Anglican al Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
“We, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, join together in profound solidarity with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem as we bear witness to the criminal attack that unfolded within the precincts of the Al Ahli Anglican Episcopal Hospital in Gaza,” said the statement by the church leaders.
“In unyielding unity, we vehemently denounce this crime with our strongest condemnation. The initial reports of the Church hospital in Gaza tragedy have left us steeped in sorrow, for it represents a profound transgression against the very principles held by humanity. Hospitals, designated as sacred havens under international law, have been desecrated by Military Force,” they said.
“We unequivocally declare this atrocity as an egregious crime, one demanding the severest censure and international accountability. We implore the global community to embrace its sacred duty to shield civilians and to ensure that such heinous transgressions are never again permitted.”
They added: “With heavy hearts, we acknowledge the profound loss of life at Al Ahli Anglican Episcopal Hospital. We hereby declare full solidarity with our brothers and sisters who have borne the unfathomable weight of this assault. As one united voice, we implore our friends, partners, and all people of goodwill to stand with us as we grieve the tragic results.
“Our prayers and support remain steadfast, and our collective voices rise as an impassioned chorus, calling for justice, peace, and the cessation of the suffering that has descended upon the people of Gaza.”
Following the missile strike on St Porphyrios Orthodox Church in Gaza in which 350 people were sheltering, the Jerusalem Patriarchate has issued the following statement
Jerusalem, October 19, 2023
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expresses its strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike that have struck its church compound in the city of Gaza.
The Patriarchate emphasizes that targeting churches and their institutions, along with the shelters they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children and women who have lost their homes due to Israeli airstrikes on residential areas over the past thirteen days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored.
Despite the evident targeting of the facilities and shelters of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and other churches – including the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem Hospital, other schools, and social institutions – the Patriarchate, along with the other churches, remain committed to fulfilling its religious and moral duty in providing assistance, support, and refuge to those in need, amidst continuous Israeli demands to evacuate these institutions of civilians and the pressures exerted on the churches in this regard.
The Patriarchate stresses that it will not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty, rooted in its Christian values, to provide all that is necessary in times of war and peace alike.
