'Appalling, devastating loss of innocent lives': Top English cleric on Israeli airstrike on Gaza hospital

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – England’s top cleric, the archbishop of Canterbury, on Tuesday decried the "devastating loss of innocent lives" from an airstrike on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, a facility run by the Anglican Church.

"This is an appalling and devastating loss of innocent lives. The Ahli hospital is run by the Anglican Church. I mourn with our brothers and sisters – please pray for them," Justin Welby said on X, reacting to the deadly Israeli airstrike on the hospital, killing hundreds.

"I renew my appeal for civilians to be protected in this devastating war," he added.

On the church-run facility, the Facebook page for the Baptist School of Allied Health Sciences in Gaza said: “In 1954 Baptists began operating Ahli Arab Hospital, in Gaza City, which they turned over to the Anglicans in 1981.”

More than 500 people were killed in the Israeli airstrike on the hospital, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told Anadolu.

It came on day 11 of the conflict, with a growing international chorus of non-governmental groups and world leaders saying the Israeli bombing campaign on the besieged Gaza Strip – including healthcare facilities, residences, and houses of worship – violates international law and may constitute a war crime.

The Palestinian group Hamas called the targeting of the hospital an act of "genocide."