In a gesture reflecting the divine message of Christianity and expressing the nobility of the Jerusalem Heads of Churches, they have issued a statement on supporting Augusta Victoria Hospital's readiness to provide free treatment for Gaza children diagnosed with leukemia.

The statement says, "We, the Patriarchs and Head of the Churches in Jerusalem, respectfully request from the relevant Israeli authorities permits to allow children in Gaza who have been diagnosed with leukemia to travel to the Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives to receive specialized treatment that is only available to them there."

The statement adds that "Augusta Victoria is prepared to arrange not only for the transpiration, but also for the full care and treatment of these young and vulnerable patients, who will then be returned by the hospital to their homes in Gaza at the end of the treatment."

This appeal was made on humanitarian grounds given that the treatment of this disease is not available in Gaza, while the hospital has the potential to transform the lives of the afflicted with it.

The statement highlights the desperate situation relevant to the crumbling health sector in the Gaza Strip and the hospitals' sublime willingness to help evacuate patients to East Jerusalem, bearing in mind that the hospital teams have the facilities and expertise to provide badly needed quality care as every day of delay puts more lives on risk.

It is important in this regard to refer to His Majesty King Abdullah II's directives to treating sick Gazans in Amman as he repeatedly directed concerned authorities to facilitate the treatment of patients from the Gaza Strip, who are going through difficult health conditions, at Jordanian hospitals. He had earlier issued instructions for setting up field hospitals in the enclave to treat hundreds of people suffering from various forms of ailments.

Such reactions to dealing with the deteriorating health sector is a reflection of respect for humanity in its capacity as an extension of the global human family which needs concerted efforts by all parties capable of alleviating every aspect of the suffering  and dressing wounds so as to draw a smile of hope on the faces of the depressed.

Many thanks and appreciations are conveyed to Jordan under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II, to the Patriarchs and Head of the Churches in Jerusalem, as well as to Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem for the humanitarian services that wipe out the tears streaming down the cheeks of the ill and the suffering.