Fadwa Khader: What is happening has exceeded the mind's ability to bear, and there must be a unified position from all churches and Islamic endowments.

Johnny Mansour: The bombing of the Baptist Church is part of the final destruction of what is of supreme value in human life.

Bishop Atallah Hanna: They celebrate our holiday with bombing, and we respond by adhering to our humanitarian and national message and our deep belonging to our land and our people.

Wadih Abu Nassar: We pray that the war will end, peace will prevail, and that we will not have to request permits to access our holy sites.

Hatem Abdel Qader: The international community and the World Council of Churches must break the wall of silence and take immediate action to protect the Christian presence and freedom of worship for Christians and Muslims.

Rev. Munther Ishaq: The bombing of the Baptist Church is a clear message to all residents: either leave or die, as part of a clear plan for ethnic cleansing.

Dimitri Diliani: The occupation authorities are trying to impose a coercive reality that isolates people from their land, their churches, their mosques, and their fundamental right to worship.

Youssef Daher: Israel's targeting of these headquarters is inseparable from the international silence regarding the genocide being committed against the Palestinians.

The occupying state deliberately chose the day when Christians celebrate one of their most important religious holidays, Palm Sunday, and bombed the Baptist Hospital in Gaza, which belongs to the Evangelical Episcopal Archdiocese of Jerusalem. This comes as part of the war of extermination it has been waging against the Gaza Strip for eighteen months. It is a clear message to all Christians in Palestine, to all churches, and to the Christian world in general, that it has no regard for anyone in this world, and that it is continuing with its plans aimed at uprooting Palestinians from their land, Muslims and Christians alike, as long as it enjoys open support from the colonial West, led by the United States.

Although this is not the first time the Baptist Hospital has been bombed since the beginning of the war, as the first of the most horrific massacres committed by the occupying state in the Gaza Strip was in the Baptist Hospital itself, where nearly five hundred citizens were martyred and hundreds were injured, this time it included deliberate political and bloody messages that it is above the law, and that it does not care about religious occasions or places with religious or humanitarian immunity, nor about any of the Palestinian people, Muslims and Christians, who are living the same pain and oppression and facing the same dangers and threats of deportation and displacement from their land.

On the other side of the country, specifically in Jerusalem, home to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christian citizens were unable to reach the city to participate in the Palm Sunday celebrations due to the restrictions, checkpoints, and strict measures imposed by the occupation authorities in the city and its surroundings.

Activists, politicians, and religious figures who spoke to Al-Quds.com considered the bombing of the Baptist Hospital a clear message to all residents, presenting them with two options: either leave or die, as part of a clear plan for ethnic cleansing. They emphasized that Israel's targeting of these facilities is inseparable from the global silence regarding the crimes of genocide committed against the Palestinians.

They emphasized that what is happening has exceeded the capacity of reason to bear, and that there must be a unified stance from all churches and Islamic endowments. They called on the international community and the World Council of Churches to break the wall of silence and take immediate action to protect the Christian presence and freedom of worship for both Christians and Muslims.

The strict lockdown prevents Christians from reaching their churches.

Fadwa Khader, a member of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian People's Party, said that what is happening daily in our Palestinian society, through the occupation's aggression and the fierce Israeli assault, is evident in the assassinations and daily violations to which our people are subjected. She noted that this is happening at a time when we are experiencing Holy Week, which holds special sanctity for Christians.

She explained that the measures taken by the occupation government have no connection to any kind of humanity or wisdom, and do not reflect any feeling or acceptance of others. Rather, it practices all forms of violence that violate international law and international legitimacy, in complete disregard for international humanitarian law, the International Criminal Court, and all international institutions. She stressed that Israel has become above international law, and unfortunately, there is no one to put an end to this barbaric rule against our Palestinian people wherever they are.

She added: "During Holy Week, Christians head to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives to complete Palm Sunday rites. However, the strict closure around Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories—between villages, cities, and governorates—prevents freedom of movement and worship, rights guaranteed by international humanitarian law."

She continued: "The deadly situation we are experiencing aims to drive us to despair and leave this land and our country. This is unacceptable despite all the oppression and violations we are subjected to. Our people still possess a strong will that strengthens our presence."

She recalled how Palm Sunday in Jerusalem was an occasion that brought together all the Palestinian people, with the participation of Muslim and Christian scout groups in a wonderful display of Muslim-Christian integration and brotherhood. However, today, the occupation is pursuing a policy of "divide and conquer," and continues to practice racial discrimination and closures against Jerusalemites and Palestinians.

The Baptist Church in Gaza was bombed on Palm Sunday!

In a related context, Khader expressed her strong condemnation of the bombing of the Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Palm Sunday morning, describing it as a fascist crime that has no connection to any human or moral values. She said, "Al-Ahli Hospital, which is supervised by the Evangelical Episcopal Church in Jerusalem, was bombed at a time when the Palestinian people should have been celebrating Palm Sunday.

"Israel was given only 20 minutes to evacuate a hospital containing hundreds of sick and wounded! This is an unimaginable scene. Even in world wars, we have never witnessed what we are witnessing today."

She asked, "Where is the international community? How can it remain silent in the face of these violations? How can the sanctity of churches and mosques be violated, and our peoples be denied freedom of worship?"

She emphasized that what is happening has exceeded the mind's capacity to bear, and that simply raising one's voice is no longer sufficient. Rather, there must be a unified stance from all churches, Islamic endowments, and all mosques. Together, we must put an end to this bloodshed.

She stressed that continued silence and division will lead to further weakening, explaining that the Ahli Hospital has been targeted numerous times, but its bombing on Palm Sunday morning carries messages that are unacceptable on religious, humanitarian, and civilized grounds.

Khader concluded her remarks to Al-Quds by saying: “The slogan they used to say – the old die and the young forget – no longer applies. Rather, history has proven that we do not forget, and that we remain despite everything. I extend my congratulations to our people from all Christian sects on the occasion of Palm Sunday. With all the pain and suffering, we wish a speedy recovery for our wounded, freedom for our prisoners, the reunification of our people everywhere, and the establishment of our state with Jerusalem as its capital. We must raise our voices in international forums and continue to recruit supporters around the world to pressure their countries to stop the aggression and recognize the establishment of our state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Israel is committing genocide without international deterrence or accountability.

For his part, historian and Middle East researcher Johnny Mansour said that Israel continues its crimes against Palestinians in Gaza by destroying all aspects of life, including the remaining health services, by bombing the Baptist Hospital.

He added: "By bombing this hospital, Israel is sending a message to the world that it is against life and for death. The act of genocide, without any international or Arab deterrent or accountability, is extremely dangerous for the future of understanding the presence of human and moral values in the world. There has already been a total collapse and near-total disappearance of the entire system of human, moral, and social values that the enlightened world boasts about."

Mansour asserted that Israel has won two permits to liquidate life in the Gaza Strip: the first from Joe Biden, who granted it the right to self-defense. The second from Trump, who opened the door to the deportation and displacement of Palestinians from Gaza because nothing is left in it fit for life. Nothing is left in it fit for life, thanks to the Israeli killing machine supported by the US administration.

He pointed out that the bombing of the Baptist Church is part of the final destruction of what is of supreme value in human life. There is no cure after the noes of water, electricity, and food.

Palestinian Christians are prevented from performing their religious rituals.

Mansour stated that Israel uses the same methodology to impose restrictions and deny Palestinian Christians the right to practice their religious rituals, especially since Palm Sunday is one of Jerusalem's most important holidays. He explained that preventing Christians from reaching Jerusalem and celebrating this celebration is equivalent to denying Palestinians their right to life and access to medical treatment, medicine, and water.

Mansour believes that the occupation's policy of uprooting the Palestinian people is being implemented through increasing sieges, restrictions, surveillance, punishment, and cover-up of the crimes of settler gangs who burn and attack everything Palestinian.

He said: "Israel's claims that it respects international law by preserving freedom of worship and the right of access to Christian and Islamic holy sites have been completely disproven. These claims have been completely disproven by the unprecedented age restrictions imposed on Muslim worshippers entering the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and now by Christians entering Jerusalem and practicing their religious rituals related to Palm Sunday."

Mansour noted that there are growing concerns that Israel will adopt the same tactics regarding Holy Saturday celebrations this weekend, in preparation for Easter.

Historian Mansour concluded by saying, "The policies of the Netanyahu government and its fascist right-wing coalition have become exposed to everyone, and we believe that it has become imperative for whatever remains of human values in the world to prevent the criminal from escaping accountability and punishment."

Palestinian Christians are being systematically targeted.

In turn, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, affirmed that Palestinian Christians are being systematically targeted, as is the case with all Palestinian citizens, particularly in Jerusalem, where attacks and violations against the Christian community are increasing at an alarming rate.

He said, "We see the Christian presence being targeted not only during religious holidays and occasions, but throughout the year, through restrictions on Christian endowments and properties, alongside growing racism, as Christians are subjected to insults and spitting by some extremist settlers in their churches and in the alleys and streets of the Old City of Jerusalem."

Bishop Hanna addressed the bombing of the Baptist (Ahli) Hospital in Gaza, a long-established Christian healthcare institution that has served the Palestinian people for over 150 years. He described the attack on Palm Sunday as "an Israeli message to Christians on the occasion of the holidays, but a harsh and painful message."

He added: "They are returning us with bombardment, and we, as Palestinian Christians, respond by affirming our commitment to our humanitarian and national message, our deep sense of belonging to our land and our people, and our continued defense of their rights."

The Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia concluded his statement to Al-Quds by calling on the international community to take immediate action to stop the "war of extermination" targeting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, stressing that "the first and most fundamental demand in these difficult times is to stop this war."

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem condemns the bombing of the Baptist Church

Wadih Abu Nassar, coordinator of the Holy Land Christians Forum, commented on the Israeli bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, saying that he joins the Church in condemning this attack.

He pointed out that the Church, specifically the Evangelical Episcopal Archdiocese of Jerusalem, which is directly responsible for the hospital, issued a strongly worded statement the day before yesterday condemning the Israeli bombing. He stated that this was the fifth time the hospital had been bombed by the Israeli military, stressing that targeting hospitals is completely unacceptable and unacceptable.

Regarding the permit issue, Abu Nassar said: "I understand that the Israeli side said that approximately 5,000 permits were issued, while other sources spoke of 6,000. However, what was clear during the Palm Sunday March in Jerusalem the day before yesterday was that the number of Palestinian Christian participants did not exceed a few hundred, which raises questions about the announced numbers."

Obstacles at checkpoints

He explained that there are two possible explanations for this disparity: "The first is that permits were not granted to all family members. Perhaps a permit was granted to the father without the wife or children, which prompted families not to come.

He added: "The second explanation is the presence of obstacles at checkpoints, as some sources in Bethlehem informed me of harassment and insults during passage."

Abu Nassar continued: "In any case, we hope that citizens will be allowed to enter Jerusalem during the holidays without the need for permits. It is important that people be given the opportunity to practice their religious rituals freely, without restrictions or insults, and that all families be allowed to enter, rather than selecting some and preventing others, and then saying that permits have been granted."

Abu Nassar concluded his interview with Al-Quds by saying, "We pray that the war will end and peace will prevail, and that we will not have to request permits in the future to access our holy sites."

A clear Israeli message to the Christian world

For his part, Hatem Abdel Qader, Secretary-General of the Islamic Christian Committee for the Defense of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, condemned the ongoing attacks against the Palestinian Christian presence, which culminated on Sunday in the Israeli occupation authorities preventing thousands of Palestinian Christians from reaching Jerusalem to participate in Palm Sunday celebrations.

He pointed out that these violations are in addition to the heinous crime committed by the occupation army when it bombed the Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in dozens of martyrs and wounded, most of whom were women, children, and the elderly.

Abdul Qader emphasized that targeting Christian holy sites, denying religious freedoms, and bombing religious humanitarian institutions reveals the true face of the occupation and exposes the falsity of its claims to protect religious freedoms and respect holy sites.

Abdul Qader believes that these violations carry a clear message to the international community, particularly the Christian world, that the occupation respects no religious or human sanctity and does not hesitate to transform places of worship and hospitals into military targets in blatant defiance of all international values and norms.

The Secretary-General of the Islamic Christian Commission called on the international community and the World Council of Churches to break the wall of silence and take immediate action to protect the Christian presence and freedom of worship for Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land, to halt the occupation's crimes against the Palestinian people, and to open an international investigation into the bombing of the Baptist Hospital as a war crime.

A flagrant violation of religious freedoms

For his part, Rev. Dr. Munther Ishaq, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, condemned the ban on Palestinian Christians from reaching Jerusalem to celebrate Palm Sunday. He considered this measure a flagrant violation of religious freedoms and a further entrenchment of the separation of Jerusalem from Bethlehem, with its profound religious and national dimensions.

"We are now experiencing a tragedy and a real catastrophe on all levels," said Father Isaac. "Jerusalem is completely separated from Bethlehem for the first time in human history. Jerusalem and Bethlehem hold great spiritual and moral significance for us as Palestinian Christians, and being denied access to them causes us immense pain. This is not the first holiday during which we have been deprived of prayer in Jerusalem."

Father Isaac emphasized the steadfastness of Christians in the face of these policies, noting that "Prayers on Palm Sunday were held in all Palestinian cities, including Gaza, in a clear message of our commitment to our land, our faith in God, and the principles of truth, justice, and peace."

In a related context, Father Isaac commented on the Israeli occupation's bombing of the Baptist Hospital (Al-Ahli) in Gaza City, describing the incident as "a clear message to all residents of the Strip: either leave or die, as part of a clear plan for ethnic cleansing that Israel continues to implement."

He added, "This is a dangerous message: No place in Gaza is safe, and no church or church hospital will be immune from bombardment. I believe the ultimate goal is forced displacement."

An Israeli policy to obliterate the authentic spiritual component of Jerusalem

For his part, Dimitri Diliani, head of the National Christian Gathering in the Holy Land, emphasized that closing roads, setting up checkpoints, and preventing worshippers from reaching their churches on one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar is just one aspect of a systematic policy pursued by the occupation authorities to obliterate Jerusalem's authentic spiritual component and empty the city of its cultural depth rooted in its diverse faiths.

"This is not just a security issue," Diliani added. "It's an existential battle waged by the occupation authorities against Palestinian history in Jerusalem, where they are trying to impose a coercive reality that isolates people from their land, their churches, their mosques, and their fundamental right to worship."

Diliani continued: This occupation policy, which besieges churches and prevents prayer, aims to redefine the Palestinian presence as an exception, subject to surveillance and restrictions, when in reality it is an authentic, permanent presence, and the foundation of the identity of the Holy City and its religious and cultural landscape.

Diliani concluded by emphasizing that the Palestinian insistence on going to churches despite the ban, and carrying palm branches despite the repression, is an expression of adherence to the right not as a slogan, but as a daily practice, and of faith not only as a belief, but also as an act of survival and steadfastness. Jerusalem, despite all the occupation's attempts to isolate it from its people, will remain a city of unending prayer, an irreducible identity, and an unquenchable light.

The final stage of the ethnic cleansing plan

Youssef Daher, an activist specializing in church affairs, believes that the Israeli occupation's targeting of the Baptist Hospital and the Zeitoun neighborhood, where churches and Christian institutions are located in Gaza, is part of the final phase of an ethnic cleansing plan aimed at emptying the Strip of its population.

Daher explained that "Christian institutions in Gaza are virtually the last remaining strongholds held by residents who refuse to leave their city despite the bombing and destruction."

He pointed out that these institutions have become a powerful symbol of steadfastness and determination to survive.

He added that Israel's targeting of these headquarters is inseparable from the global silence surrounding the genocide being perpetrated against the Palestinians, as there is no international accountability or genuine questioning, which encourages the occupation to continue its crimes without deterrence.

Zahir considered the Israeli message clear and shocking: There is no safe place, even inside churches, and evacuation is the only option available to residents, paving the way for the reoccupation of Gaza after its complete evacuation.