The Church of England's spiritual leader has called for “restraint” in allocating blame for the attack at the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, as bishops appealed for civilians to be protected.
Thousands of displaced and wounded people were sheltering at the hospital when it was struck on Tuesday. Hamas accused Israel of bombing the facility, and killing hundreds. The Israeli military has denied this, and said the explosion was due to a failed rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group in Gaza.
The hospital, founded in 1882, is run by the Church of England.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described the event as an “atrocity”, but called on politicians and the public to wait until the facts become clear.
“This atrocity violates the sanctity and dignity of human life. It is a violation of humanitarian law, which is clear that hospitals, doctors and patients must be protected,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“For this reason, it's essential that we exercise restraint in apportioning responsibility before all the facts are clear.”
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, called on the international community to protect civilians in Gaza.
“An urgent appeal resonates for the international community to fulfil its duty in protecting civilians and ensuring that such inhumane horrific acts are not replicated,” he wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
The attack on the hospital fell on the eve of St Luke's Day, when the Church traditionally prays for doctors and physicians. The Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, wore a stole featuring Palestinian embroidery to mark the day on Wednesday.
The white stole has an embroidered red and black cross, and was given to the bishop by the Al Ahli hospital’s director, Suhaila Tarazi, during his visit to Gaza two weeks ago. The bishop had travelled to Israel and Gaza in October, and was there when the war broke out.
After returning last week, he launched an appeal to support the hospital, which he described as “of vital importance for health” in Gaza.
The Israeli military had warned hospitals in Gaza to evacuate on several occasions since the war began 12 days ago. About 3,500 Palestinians have been killed and 12,000 injured since, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Gaza's hospitals are reaching breaking point, as thousands of people have poured in seeking care or shelter from Israeli air strikes.
Electricity from Israel was cut off at the start of the war, and fuel for generators is running out. Medical staff and supplies had been targeted by Israeli air strikes, the Ambassador to the Palestinian mission to the UK, Husam Zomlot, said on Tuesday. Forty one medical personnel had been killed by Monday, he added.
Yet Israel had rejected calls to open a humanitarian corridor from the Al Rafah border crossing.
Ms Tarazi, the hospital's director, told the Associated Press that the aftermath of the blast was “unlike anything I have ever seen or could ever imagine.”
“Our hospital is a place of love and reconciliation,” she said. “We are all losers in this war. And it must end.”
Staff at Al Ahli Hospital said they could not gauge the death toll because the blast had dismembered so many bodies. Ms Tarazi could only estimate that it was “in the hundreds”.
Around 350 casualties were rushed to Gaza city’s main hospital, Al Shifa, which was already overwhelmed with the wounded from other strikes, its director Mohammed Abu Selmia said. Doctors there resorted to performing surgery on floors and in the halls, mostly without anaesthesia.
“We need equipment, we need medicine, we need beds, we need anaesthesia, we need everything,” Mr Abu Selmia said. He warned that fuel for the hospital’s generators would run out within hours, forcing a complete shutdown, unless supplies enter the Gaza Strip.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Archbishop of Canterbury stood outside his home, Lambeth Palace, with fellow British faith leaders Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg to call for “unity” between communities as the war between Israel and Hamas has raised tensions.
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The specs: 2018 Mazda CX-5
Price, base / as tested: Dh89,000 / Dh130,000
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 188hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 251Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.1L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
- Use a considered collection of prints and artworks that work together to form a cohesive journey.
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
