Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem has opened the Jubilee Wing for Pediatric Day Surgery at a ceremony held under the high patronage of His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and His Excellency Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan, Palestinian Minister of Health, represented by Dr. Nafez Sarhan, Director of Beit Jala Governmental Hospital. The new wing provides children with surgical services suited to their age-specific needs. Until now, children often had to undergo surgery in non-specialized facilities alongside adults.

The ceremony was attended by the President, Mrs. Sybille Hardegger, and members of the Board of Children's Relief Bethlehem, the organization that has sponsored the hospital since 1963, and the hospital's Executive Committee. Patrons of the hospital in attendance included Archbishop Stephan Burger of Freiburg and Bishop Felix Gmür of Basel, along with representatives of Switzerland, Germany and Italy, local mayors, representatives of Bethlehem Governorate and supporting bodies, security institutions and local partners.

In his address at the ceremony, the hospital's CEO, Mr. Issa Bandak, described the opening of the wing as “a milestone in the history of pediatric medicine in Palestine”. He noted that the project comes at a time when Palestine has lost more than twenty thousand children in the ongoing recent war, with tens of thousands more wounded, and called this achievement a gift to a wounded childhood and a balm for its exhausted body.

The CEO explained that the wing is part of the hospital's strategic plan to introduce new medical services that respond to the needs of Palestinian society, in which children make up more than 40% of the population.

The wing fills a gap in pediatric surgical care in the West Bank by offering surgical services designed around children's needs, raising the quality of care and reducing medical risk. It is directly connected to the hospital's main building, so specialist physicians and the full infrastructure remain ready to intervene immediately should any complications arise.

The total cost of the Jubilee Building at Caritas Baby Hospital, built on property of the Custody of the Holy Land, is estimated at around eight million US dollars. It was funded largely by individuals, foundations and dioceses through Children's Relief Bethlehem in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Austria. Among the project's most important supporters are also the Representative Office of Switzerland in the oPt/Swiss Cooperation Office, the Peppino Vismara Foundation, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.