An attack by Israeli forces on the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem’s al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City has left four journalists dead. The diocese said it “condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms.”
The attack happened at 10:20 am local time (3:20 a.m. EDT) June 5. The diocese said that Israeli forces fired inside the compound of the hospital. Other reports claim the hospital was hit by drones. It is the eighth attack on the hospital since Israel declared war on Hamas after its terrorist strikes in Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,195 people. Hamas took 250 hostages then, and 56 remain captive.
Three journalists were killed instantly and another died later from his wounds. Two other people were killed in the attack, including a father who was taking his son to the hospital’s surgical unit for treatment after a previous attack. Thirty other people were injured, including four hospital staff.
Elsewhere, local reports say that another five people were killed when Israeli forces attacked al-Shifa Hospital in the northern Rimal district of Gaza. The total death toll in Gaza for June 5 stands at 43—mostly in southern Gaza.
In another attack near al-Shifa Hospital, five people were reported killed.
In a statement, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem called on the Israel army to “respect the internationally protected sanctity of al-Ahli Hospital and 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 continuing 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.”
The IDF has shown a pattern of Hamas placing military operations within civilian structures, including hospitals.
Local sources have named three of the dead journalists as cameraman Ismail Badah and reporter Sulaiman Haja from the Palestine Today TV channel and reporter Samir al-Rifai from SHMS News Agency.
On June 4 the United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza.
The remaining 14 members of the council voted in favor. The text was cosponsored by Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, and South Korea, and it was backed by China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom.
The United States used the veto because the resolution did not call for Hamas to release all remaining hostages.
The Diocese of Jerusalem said: “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 tens of thousands of homes and 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 those living in our beloved Holy Land.”
Gavin Drake is a writer, editor, and producer at Church Street Bureau, a small company providing writing, editorial, and videography services.
