The ongoing violence in between the Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the Israeli Defense Force affects civilians and innocents on both sides of the wall with a disproportionate number of women and children killed and wounded in Gaza – more than 30 killed, including at least six children, and dozens wounded since Tuesday, May 9.

On Thursday, May 11, American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ) hosted a conversation with Ahli Hospital leaders, General Director Suhaila Tarazi and Medical Director Dr. Maher Ayyad. As they talked about current conditions participants could hear explosions near the hospital over the Zoom connection. Watch excerpts of the conversation here.

Tarazi explained that, due to the ongoing violence, many government hospitals have closed or have sharply reduced the hours that they see patients. Ahli Hospital, the only Christian hospital in the Gaza Strip, remains open to care for all who come their their doors. Ahli’s staff is committed to filling the gap left by the closures of other hospitals.

“We need financial support for medicine and medical supplies as well as for fuel to power our generator. We can’t run a hospital without electricity.” Tarazi said.

On Thursday, the Most Rev. Hosam Naoum, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, called on Ahli Arab Hospital’s friends across the world to help. In a letter to international partners he writes,

“Throughout this emergency, the dedicated staff of our Ahli Hospital in Gaza, at great personal risk, have been working around the clock, tending to the wounded and accepting urgent surgical cases that other overburdened hospitals have been unable to take. This flood of patients has taxed their limited resources, leading to shortages of medicines, medical supplies, and fuel for their generators that must run for extended hours due to electrical black-outs.“

He calls, in a statement from the Diocese of Jerusalem, on people of good will to support Ahli Hospital with donations and prayers for peace “so that the concerned parties can begin to contemplate steps leading to a just and lasting peace in Gaza and throughout the entirety of the Holy Land.”

Secure online donations to support this remarkable ministry of healing may be made at www.afedj.org/give/give-online or by check to AFEDJ, 25 Old Kings Highway North, Suite 13, Darien, CT. AFEDJ ensures that 100% of designated funds go directly to the specified institution.

AFEDJ is a nonpolitical, nonsectarian 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to transforming lives of the vulnerable and displaced in the Middle East through support of the schools, hospitals, and centers for children with disabilities that are owned and operated by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem in Palestine, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. Learn more at www.afedj.org.