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Despite a ceasefire, Israel bombed one of Gaza's main hospitals overnight, killing six people, including a child and a prominent surgeon. The strike hit the hospital's operating theaters just after midnight. NPR's Anas Baba reports from southern Gaza.
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ANAS BABA, BYLINE: Two missiles were fired at this building at Nasser Hospital, one of Gaza's biggest medical facilities housing hundreds of patients. One munition exploded, the other did not. It sits in the hallway. It is stamped GBU-39, a bomb made by Boeing. Hospital beds are crushed beneath concrete and debris. The ceiling is torn open. Oxygen pipe have been severed. This is where doctors were operating on patients just hours before the attack. Dr. Ayman Abu Obeid (ph) is a surgeon at Nasser Hospital. He says the strike also hits doctor offices.
AYMAN ABU OBEID: (Non-English language spoken).
BABA: He says one of his colleagues, surgeon Dr. Rizq Abu Shaira, was killed inside the department that did also include a 13-year-old boy and medical staff. Another surgeon was among the wounded. Dr. Mohammed Al-Adini was in surgery when the Israeli strike hit.
MOHAMMED AL-ADINI: (Non-English language spoken).
BABA: He says he didn't know what had happened. Later, he found himself in another section of the hospital where he was told he had a fractured femur. Nasser is the main hospital serving southern Gaza. Doctors Without Borders, which operates inside the hospitals, condemns the attack.
SALWA ABOU CHACRA: It's unconscionable that patients and medical staff are once again being killed and injured inside the hospital, a place where lives should be saved, not taken.
BABA: The group's spokeswoman Salwa Abou Chacra told NPR.
ABOU CHACRA: Nasser Medical Complex is the main referral hospital for southern Gaza, serving an estimated 1.3 million people.
BABA: During the war, Israel repeatedly struck and raided the hospital, accusing Hamas of using medical facilities for military purposes. Its medical service is already struggling with damaged facilities, shortages of equipment and long waits of surgery as a result of Israeli restrictions. Israel says it was targeting the Hamas commander and that the hospital was used to store weapons. Witness say the man was wounded in the attack. Hospital staff say they received no warning for the strike. For patients who have nowhere else to turn, the hospital itself is no longer a place they can feel safe. Anas Baba, NPR News, southern Gaza.
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