13.04.2025

Attack on Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza – Statement by the Archbishop of Dublin

Archbishop Michael Jackson has this morning (Sunday, 13th April 2025) issued the following statement after the further attack on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza city. The hospital is supported by the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough through their relationship with the Diocese of Jerusalem.

As Christian people worldwide mark the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday we recollect with thanksgiving how he gathered to himself a new community of the despised and the rejected. 

He himself became despised and rejected – a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 

We walk in solidarity and in sadness with the brave souls – staff and patients – who have kept Al Ahli Hospital functioning against the odds for so so long. 

I share their outrage, having experienced their selfless work and worshipped with them in their hospital chapel, at the destruction and desecration of the hospital – a place of care and healing for all in need. 

I appeal for a cessation of violence and warfare in Israel–Palestine and particularly in Gaza. 

I appeal to all people in the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough to pray throughout Holy Week for those who suffer and for those who serve, for those who die and for those who struggle to live.

Statement from the Diocese of Jerusalem:

The Diocese of Jerusalem condemns in the strongest terms today’s missile attacks on the Ahli Arab Hospital, an institution run by the Anglican Church in Jerusalem. 

The twin strikes demolished the two–storey Genetic Laboratory and damaged the Pharmacy and the Emergency Department buildings. It also resulted in other collateral damage to the surrounding buildings, including the church building of St. Philip’s. 

A mere twenty minutes prior to the attack, the Israeli army ordered all patients, employees, and displaced people to immediately evacuate the hospital premises prior to its bombing. We thank God that there were no injuries or deaths as a result of the bombing. However, one child who previously suffered a head–injury tragically died as a result of the rushed evacuation process. 

The Diocese of Jerusalem is appalled at the bombing of the hospital now for the fifth time since the beginning of the war in 2023—and this time on the morning of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. We call upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions. We pray and call for the end of this horrific war and the suffering of so many.