Church plea for Gaza children to receive cancer treatment in Jerusalem

‘While everyone feels it will be a long and difficult road, there is hope that the Christmas season will bring its own magic to our suffering people,’ said a report from the Latin Patriarchate.

Church leaders in Jerusalem asked the Israeli authorities to allow children with leukaemia to travel from Gaza to a specialist hospital in East Jerusalem.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem made the request for permission for the children “to travel to the Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives to receive specialised treatment that is only available to them there”.

Aid agencies report that two years of war in Gaza have destroyed much of the health system in the territory, leaving its hospitals unable to treat severe cases. Médecins Sans Frontières reported on Wednesday that children make up one in five of the 18,500 Palestinians in the territory who need medical evacuation, but travel is tightly restricted by the Israeli authorities.

The Augusta Victoria Hospital, opened in 1950 with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), is operated by the Lutheran World Federation and offers specialised cancer services. The Church leaders emphasised that “the swift delivery of treatment is essential for a good outcome” for cancer patients.

“We make this appeal on humanitarian grounds,” they said. “The treatment for this disease is not available in Gaza, and it has the potential to transform the lives of those afflicted with it. There will be no burden on the government for any cost, since it will all be borne by the hospital.”

The chief executive of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Sami El-Yousef said that the limit on aid supplies allowed into Gaza “shows no intention to allow people there to rebuild their lives with dignity”.

In a reflection published by the patriarchate on Tuesday, he warned of “a unanimous feeling among Palestinians that justice is not being served and what the world seems to be aiming for is conflict management rather than resolution”.

“The recent rainstorm that hit the region should have been a great relief for a region that needs water desperately, but the sight of flooded Gaza and the roughly two million people internally displaced practically living on the flooded streets with no proper shelter was a stark reminder that it is not over,” El-Yousef said, after flooding in which at least 14 people died by the end of last week.

However, he also reported positively on the patriarchate’s relief work in Gaza and the West Bank and praised the work of the clergy, Religious and staff of the Holy Family Parish in Gaza “who do their work quietly but consistently at a great personal sacrifice”.

“For the first time since 2022, Christmas trees are being lit again in the main squares of most cities, towns and villages. Christmas markets are springing up almost everywhere as well as concerts and performances. There is even a Christmas tree decorated in the Holy Family parish in Gaza,” he said.

“The spirit is certainly back. We see small groups of pilgrims returning to show their solidarity and experience the charm of the Holy Places and strengthen their own faith. The economic wheel on the West Bank is starting to move again. While everyone feels it will be a long and difficult road, there is hope that the Christmas season will bring its own magic to our suffering people.”

Bethlehem celebrated the lighting of its first Christmas tree in two years on 6 December. Canon Richard Sewell, dean of St George’s College, the Anglican Centre in Jerusalem, said Christians in the Holy Land “feel that we have grounds to allow the lights to be hung this Advent to call us into a more joyful Christmas than we have known for years”.

However, he said, “our feelings are more on the basis of a promised improvement, rather than the actuality today”. He continued: “In Advent we stare into the true darkness of the human condition and seek the light of grace and peace which is the gift of God to the world in Jesus Christ.”

Pope Leo’s visit to Lebanon in early December was “an extraordinary moment of faith and hope” for the region, the Vicar Apostolic of Northern Arabia said last week, describing “unforgettable days of fraternity and communion” in his report on Christmas preparations.

“I carry in my heart the thousands of people who thronged the streets, all religions together, who witnessed the historic nature of the event,” said Bishop Aldo Berardi. “Life has returned. Lebanon will regain its strength and flourish anew by taking root in its faith and rising again with its Lord. I earnestly pray that this country, so dear to me, may recover. It deserves it.”

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