The Christian hospital attack in Gaza has left CNEWA in “disbelief.”

The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) staff in the United States is shocked by the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, the oldest and only Christian hospital in Gaza.

The building is the only Christian establishment in the enclave and the oldest in Gaza. It is a humanitarian outreach of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. The hospital is supported by CNEWA, an organisation that was established in 1926 by Pope Pius XI with the goal of assisting the Catholic Church in the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India, and Eastern Europe.

When the strike started, more than 5,000 people were being housed at the hospital. Each side has denied responsibility and claimed casualties. When Israel struck the hospital, it killed about 500 people, according to Palestinian officials. The Israel Defence Forces responded by claiming that the explosion was the result of a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. The Israeli government declared war on Hamas on October 8 in response to the group’s ambush of 22 locations in Israel.