Under the headline, Israeli air strike destroys part of last fully functional hospital in Gaza City, the BBC’s Gaza correspondent, Rushdi Abualouf, narrates the IDF’s destruction of the intensive care and surgery departments of a hospital run by the Anglican Church. Below is an AI-produced summary of the article.1
AN Israeli air strike has severely damaged al Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully functional hospital in Gaza City, destroying its intensive care and surgery departments. The attack occurred on Palm Sunday, with video footage showing flames and smoke rising from a two-story building as patients and staff evacuated.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed they targeted a “command and control centre used by Hamas” within the hospital. They stated they took precautions to minimize civilian casualties, including advance warnings and precise munitions. Hospital staff reportedly received a 20-minute evacuation notice before the strike.
While no direct casualties were reported from the strike itself, one child with a previous head injury died during the rushed evacuation. Khalil Bakr, who fled with his three injured daughters, told BBC Arabic, “Only two minutes separated us from death.”
The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the hospital, expressed being “appalled” at the bombing, particularly during Holy Week. The World Health Organization confirmed the hospital is now out of service, with 50 patients relocated to other facilities, though 40 critical patients couldn’t be moved.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry stated the hospital building was “completely destroyed,” forcing the displacement of patients and staff. The facility, small before the war, had become the only fully operational hospital in Gaza City after the destruction of other medical facilities including Al-Shifa complex.
International condemnation followed the attack. UK Foreign Minister David Lammy called such “deplorable attacks” unacceptable, while WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that “hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law.”
This incident follows the ongoing conflict sparked by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people. Since then, over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza according to local health authorities.
Read the full article at the BBC…
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