Gaza City/Rome/Cologne – On Monday 22nd June, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, blessed the Order of Malta’s clinic in Gaza City, in the presence of His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine and Jordan. Following this blessing, around thirty staff members, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, will begin providing primary health care to up to one hundred sick people every day. The clinic was established under a partnership between the Order of Malta and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Its activities are coordinated by Malteser International, the Order of Malta’s humanitarian aid agency. 

“Medical care for people in Gaza is currently in a catastrophic state,” says Dr. Ali Ibrahim Al-Musaddar, Medical Director of the clinic. “Violence continues despite the ceasefire. Sixty percent of health facilities have been completely destroyed and many more severely damaged.” Sanitary conditions are extremely poor. “Skin diseases are spreading,” says Dr. Al-Musaddar. “Nearly the entire population has been repeatedly displaced and is dependent on humanitarian aid. They are arriving here sick, exhausted, and deeply traumatized in urgent need of help.” 

“The blessing of the clinic by the Latin Patriarch on the eve of the feast of St. John the Baptist, patron of the Order, which is celebrated on 24 June, is a historic milestone,” said Dr. Josef Blotz, Grand Hospitaller of the Order, who is responsible for the Order of Malta’s charitable and medical works. “Over nine hundred years after our foundation here, we continue to serve people in need in the Holy Land regardless of their religion or background. This clinic will provide lifesaving medical care to people in need. It will also show them that they are not forgotten. We are now working actively to deepen our engagement in these most difficult circumstances.” 

Funding and in-kind support for the clinic is provided by the German Foreign Office, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aktion Deutschland Hilft, UNICEF, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Archdiocese of Munich and Paderborn. Since the start of the Gaza war in 2023, Malteser International has been able to provide approximately 25,000 people living in and near the parish with more than 200 tons of life-saving supplies.