Gaza: Inauguration of the Malteser clinic in Gaza City
- June 2026
Gaza City/Rome/Cologne. On Monday, June 22, His Beatitude, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, blessed the Order of Malta's clinic in Gaza City. Following the inauguration, approximately thirty staff members, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, will begin providing medical care to up to one hundred patients daily. The clinic was established through 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 organization.
“Medical care for the people of Gaza is currently in a catastrophic state,” says Dr. Ali Ibrahim Al-Musaddar, medical director of the clinic. “Despite the ceasefire, the violence continues. Sixty percent of the health facilities have been completely destroyed, and many more are severely damaged.” Hygiene conditions are extremely poor. “Skin diseases are spreading,” says Dr. Al-Musaddar. “Virtually the entire population has been repeatedly displaced and is dependent on humanitarian aid. People arrive here sick, exhausted, and deeply traumatized, and they urgently need help.”
“The inauguration of the clinic by the Latin Patriarch on the eve of the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of the Order, which is celebrated on June 24, is a historic milestone,” said Dr. Josef Blotz, Grand Hospitaller of the Order, who is responsible for the charitable and medical works of the Order of Malta. “More than nine hundred years after our founding here, we continue our commitment to people in need in the Holy Land, regardless of their religion or origin. This clinic will provide life-saving medical care to people in need. It will also show them that they are not forgotten. We are now actively working to deepen our commitment under these extremely difficult circumstances.”
The clinic receives financial and in-kind support from the German Federal Foreign Office, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Action Germany Helps), UNICEF, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and the Archdioceses of Munich and Freising and Paderborn. Since the beginning of the Gaza War in 2023, Malteser International has been able to provide around 25.000 people living in the parish and its surrounding area with more than 200 tons of life-saving aid.
The Order of Malta is urgently appealing for donations for the affected people in Gaza:
Maltese Relief Service e. V.
IBAN: DE10 3706 0120 1201 2000 12
Keyword: “Gaza”
Online: www.malteser.de