Update: Gaza Hospital
In the heart of Gaza City, Al Ahli Arab Hospital stands as both sanctuary and symbol. Run by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem, this is the only hospital that has remained operational in northern Gaza through the conflict. It has long been a place where the wounded and the displaced find care without distinction of creed or background. No one is turned away. Today, its mission is endangered not only by relentless bombardment of the area, but by a dramatic decline in international support.
Recent reports from Gaza describe tents erected in crowded courtyards to serve as makeshift wards, exhausted staff working without pay, and children treated on the floor. The hospital has absorbed wave after wave of victims from airstrikes and collapsing ceasefires. Its resilience is remarkable, but this resilience depends on support
News of cease fires have lead some to conclude that donations are no longer essential, eroding the lifelines that hospitals like Al Ahli depend upon. This decline comes at the very moment when needs are greatest: food insecurity is acute, medical supplies are scarce, the fragile ceasefire is repeatedly violated, and winter is approaching.
The Anglican run Al Ahli Arab Hospital is one of our Alongside Hope partners. Our partnership flows from a conviction that every act of care is an act of witness; that life is sacred even in the shadow of war. The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem has carried this witness for generations, and we join them in calling the global community to remember Gaza not only as a place of conflict but as a place of healing.
The hospital’s story is one of courage: doctors and nurses who remain at their posts despite danger, families who bring loved ones through rubble to reach its gates, and international volunteers who demonstrate care, even when the world seems indifferent.
They remind us of the words of scripture, that "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" (Romans 5:3–4). Yet this hope requires sustenance, and the decline in donations threatens to silence this witness. Alongside Hope offers a timely way to offer support:
If you are looking for a meaningful gift for a loved one, turn to our World of Gifts Catalogue. In it you will find a gift you can give in their name, called "Peace in the Holy Land". Your Christmas gift of $50 supports Al-Ahli Hospital and other institutions operated by the Diocese of Jerusalem, and is matched dollar for dollar.
Gifts are not only financial contributions; they are gestures of solidarity and affirmations that Gaza’s suffering is seen.
The Anglican Church in the Diocese of Jerusalem is home to about 7,000 Anglicans worshipping in just twenty-eight congregations. Yet these relatively few Christians are responsible for more than thirty institutions, including hospitals, schools, clinics, and rehabilitation centres, scattered across Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.
They run the Al Ahli Arab Hospital as more than a medical facility. It is a living parable of compassion in the midst of violence, and a reminder that the Anglican Church’s ministry extends beyond liturgy and into the world. To support it is to declare that even in Gaza, life is stronger than death and love is stronger than fear. As we wait for the Child who comes to dwell among us, let us not grow weary in witness. As we give, let us pray and proclaim: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” John 1:5.
In Christ,
the Rev’d Canon Dr. Greg Jenkins, Chair of Alongside Hope, Huron
Alongside Hope: Anglicans and partners
working for change in Canada and around the world
- First Photo by Dawoud Abo Aklas, shared via Richard Sewell, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem, shows chapel in the hospital being used as makeshift ward
- Second Photo supplied by American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem