Woman architect. Bee keeper. Mentor. A Raymond JamesFinancial Advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. Life well planned. Narrator funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. And by judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Announcer and now, bbc news. Hello. I am Christian Fraser and this is the context. There were some 4000 people sheltering at this hospital as well as people being treated there and 80 of the hospital has been destroyed. International law says you do not target hospitals, so for this to happen just as mr. Biden is arriving makes his trip hugely, hugely harder. Just as the world united to defeat the nazis, just as the world united to defeat isis, the world has to stand united behind israel to defeat hamas. Christian at least 500 people have been killed in an airstrike on a hospital in gaza city. Officials say there may be hundreds of victims in the rubble. The israeli army has not yet commented. After days of heavy israeli bombardment, 3000 palestinians are dead. The u. N. Says a bigger catastrophe is upon us. There is barely five days of food and water left. 2 million palestinians and hospitals are about to run out of food. President biden is about to head to the region. We will speak to the u. N. In gaza and get reaction of the Government Spokesperson in jerusalem, and we will speak to the u. N. Troops in lebanon under fire and struggling to maintain the peace. Good evening. It is hard to quite believe what has. , the hostage crisis that torments a nation, a Bombing Campaign that has killed 3000 palestinians, and tonight, reports from the Health Ministry in gaza that at least 500 people have been killed in a hospital where people were sheltering in gaza city. The pictures emerging from the Baptist Hospital show scenes of utter chaos with bloody and maimed casualties being stretched out in the darkness and bodies in wrecked vehicles lying in the rubble outside. There are videos we cannot yet verify. We show a huge explosion shortly beforehand. All of these hospitals have been serving as a refuge for people trying to escape the bombing. The Israeli Army Says it is investigating and will report shortly. We will get reaction the next hour from the Government Spokesperson. Lets go live to jerusalem and speak to john, who is there for us. Bring us up to speed with the things you have been able to verify so far. Well, this is the Al Ahli Hospital right in the center of gaza city. It is a hospital run by the baptist church. It is probably 500 meters, half a mile from the bbcs gaza office. I walked past it many times. As you say, the pictures we are getting there are showing complete chaos, burning buildings. The bbc spoke to a doctor working at the hospital who said some 4000 people were sheltering in the hospital and in the grounds when the strike happened. He was talking about casualties up to 1000. I have to say we have to be careful with the numbers at this stage becae frankly i dont think anyone knows, but certainly this is going to be the biggest, most Deadly Strike of this conflict so far, and it could be a Game Changing moment really with joe biden arriving tomorrow. Christian some reaction from the Anglican Church in jerusalem. Al ahli of course is a hospital funded by the Anglican Church. The dean of st. Georges college just tweeted the hospital in gaza took a direct hit from an israeli missile. The bombs must stop now. There can be no possible justification for this, he says. We cannot verify it is an israeli missile. We can only verify there has been an enormous explosion. What do we know about the stat the hospital prior to this . I am seeing some reports that barely 80 of it was out of use and maybe was being used as a big dormitory for people seeking shelter . Certainly i have just been looking at some awful videos coming in which look like there were lots of people in the ground. You can see bodies scattered across a lawn with burning buildings in the background. I have not seen images from the hospital yesterday or over the past week, but we know that in a hospital nearby, the biggest hospital in gaza city, there have been thousands of people seeking shelter there. Of course, bear in mind 600,000 people have fled south after the warning from the Israeli Military last week to evacuate the north of gaza and gaza city. The people who stayed, hundreds of thousands of people have been misplaced. One of the few safe places where people would go to seek shelter where the hospitals, so i dont think it is unimaginable to think there could have been 400,000 people sheltering their, even if the hospital itself was not treating that many patients. Christian 4000 people sheltering their . 4000. Yeah. Christian in perspective of what caused this, hospitals are supposed to be sacrosanct. That is the place where people should be able to go and get shelter. Naturally, the reaction coming from the region is the fury. That is the backdrop for President Biden who is about to set off in the next hour for israel. I heard you say this is a game changer. It certainly could be, couldn it . It really could be. Across the west bank, we are hearing reports of people turning on the streets in mass protests broadcasting from the mosques urging people to do so. I have just seen images from ramallah with thousands of people chanting, marching toward president are best abbass president ial compound. The palestinian authority, president abbas himself was due to meet with President Biden tomorrow, he has now said he is fly back to the west bank. So i think this could really inflame an already volatile situation. You have to remember that while the United States has been standing by firmly behind israel, it is of course israels fungus ally, it has at the same time been urging israel to try to minimize civilian casualties. It has been urging israel and egypt to push for humanitarian corridors to be opened up from the south. To have this on the day joe biden arrives, if it is confirmed in the morning when he arrives that youve got hundreds, possibly more people being killed in a hospital, he is going to face some questions. Christian we both worked in gaza so we know how things operate in times like this. The coordinator of the Hospital Center like this would be well known by the Israeli Defense force. We call it a d conflicted side. Presumably the israeli army knows where this is and will have fairly good intelligence fairly quickly on what has gone wrong. They well. They will definitely know what it was and where it was. It is an incredibly wellknown building. It is right next to the main square in the center of gaza city. The Israeli Defense force, the Israeli Military has been contacted for comment, and they have said they are investigating. It is hard to see what else this could be really given the size of the explosion other than an israeli airstrike or several airstrikes. Because we have seen rockets being fired out of gaza. We never see explosions of that scale. We might see half a dozen or a few more people being killed in attacks but we have never seen anything on the scale of the sort of explosion on the video i saw it earlier, which is still to be verified. Christian can we talk about the pictures we are seeing while you are talking to us from ramallah . We are seeing the riot police out tonight close to the president ial palace, and right at the end of the street we can see hundreds of people who are gathered. This explains the nervousness and arab countries, in north african countries at the moment, because although governments have been urging a ceasefire, there is fury, great anger. There have been some big protests in these countries the last few weeks. Something like this can really like the tinderbox comiccon it tinderbox, cant it . It can, and we have already been hearing condemnations from many in the arab world. I do not think it is unimaginable that we will see protests similar to those we are already seeing in the west bank springing up in israel as arab neighbors. We have seen reaction from his bullet in the north, where we already have a volatile situation on israels northern border. You are right. This is a moment i think given the apparent scale of this attack which could really completely inflame not just this conflict but the whole region. Christian for the moment, we will come back to you of course, but thank you very much for that. Lets speak to a surgeon of the Royal Liverpool university hospital. He is currently in southern gaza. Thank you for being with us. What have you been able to ascertain from the doctors you have spoken to this evening . What can you tell us about the situation on the ground . I just manag to speak to one of the doctors at the hospital. He told me it is extremely chaotic. The number of dead and wounded coming to the hospital is unbelievable. It is estimated there are probably 800 people that have been killed or wounded and they are not coping with a number of people coming to the hospital. Christian because they were already under enormous pressure before this. Can you tell us if they are able to get access to the site to get the people out that are still alive in that building . I think they are trying to get bodies out, but still, there is fire in the place and they are managing to get some of the bodies out, but it is ongoing. Christian did any of the eyewitnesses do any of the eyewnesses cap the given details of what they saw, what they heard, or what happened . I dont know exactly. I have not spoken to any of them. My own sources from th hospital , he is just getting people into the hospital that need medical attention there. Christian does he have the capacity there to care for the people coming to him tonight . No. They are already overwhelmed. They have many, many yesterday and the day before, the bombings have brought many wounded people to the hospital, and they have been triaging according to their chances of survival, so they do not have the capacity to look after more people we did in this incident. Christian these will be blast wounds and shrapnel wounds. We know the hospitals are running short on medical supplies. What about fuel . The u. N. Said there is barely 24 hours of fuel left to run the generators. Is there a danger that at the most could come moment as they are being overwhelmed the lights go out . Yes, that is a big danger because they are running on generators. There is no external supplies coming. My estimation is 24 to 48 hours maximum they can operate in this situation. Christian we are seeing angry scenes in ramallah with teargas being fired and riot police out. What is the situation where you are . Are people coming out in the streets . I have not seen that myself, but speaking to the palestinians around me, they are very angry. It is very emotional for everyone here. Christian the egyptians have just said tonight it is not that they are not opening the gate, it is that the gate is still under bombardment, and we have seen the craters on the road next to the transit center. What has it been like down there over the last 24 hours . There have been multiple strikes around us, including the city and the crossing as well. Although people have been displaced, but still there have been airstrikes which means there is no place that is safe for them. Christian what about your hospital . If they were to move some of the wooded from gaza city tonight or tomorrow morning to alleviate some of the pressure, wou you be able to cope with more . All hospitals are in the same situation. All hospitals because even the others, everyone is under the same pressure. All working over what they can cope with. Overcapacity by many times. Christian how much fuel do you have left . Sorry . Christian how much fuel do you have left . I dont know exactly. It is the same situation, which is probably a few days. Christian you presumably, just to get an idea of what is going on in your hospital, you are treating many similar types of injury, blast wounds, that sort of thing, shrapnel wounds . No. In fact, at the moment, i am out of the hospital and cannot get to the hospital because it is not safe at the moment. Christian so you are a surgeon with all the skills to help but you cannot get there . Yes, i cannot get there now. Christian so where are you . I am at the moment in a you and shelter at the moment in a u. N shelter at the moment. Christian you have been pinned down there for how long . For about two days. Christian because it is so lively at the border. Obviously, we were about to go out but you cannot travel. It is unsafe to travel within gaza or anywhere because you dont know what will be the next target. That is the situation. Christian if there was a ceasefire, where would you go . Your skills are badly needed right now. Yes. I have been in touch with my colleagues. At the moment, probably i will be going out once the crossing is open. Christian you are going to leave gaza . Yes. Christian right, ok. Thank you very much for coming on and talking to us about what you know. We are going to focus a little bit about what the u. N might know. There was before this incident report of at least six people being killed at a school run by the United NationsPalestinian Refugee group. The school was hit during a series of israeli airstrikes this afternoon. Six people were killed this afternoon when a school was hit at the refugee camp in the middle area of the strip the commissioner general said this is outrageous and it again shows the flagrant disregard for lives of civilians. No place is safe in gaza anymore, not the facilities. Christian lets get some reaction. The Deputy Director of the u. N gaza field office, thank you very much for coming on, jennifer. Good to see you safe and well. What do you know about events this evening in gaza city . Well, just from what i have seen on the media, just the rumors, what we have seen, the photographs. It has been absolutely shocking. Where i am now sitting right next to a refugee camp, i was part of a refugee camp with 8000 people here. These people are displaced. They come from the north and then come from gaza city themselves. There is 8000 people here. At night, it is usually raucous and loud, people and kids running around. Tonight, their assignments, absolute silence. You cannot hear anything. The people on an absent shock about what has happened. It is really, really shocking. I just dont know what to say. I have no words. Christian there cannot be any confidence if a hospital instruct that anybody is safe anywhere, even in a u. N facility like the one you are in. Exactly. We have had 32 the u. N. Process has been conflicted with the israeli authorities. We have suffered 32 direct and indirect strikes on our installations during this last war, this current war. Christian can you tell us what happened to the school today . We heard it was ground strikes and it was to the third floor of the school which has been serving thousands there. It had been d conflicted de conflicted. And it was just struck. Six people have died. Many dozens injured. It is just really terrible. Again, these are people that we know. It could be coworkers. Our coworkers were injured. People lost sisters, brothers, cousins, friends, family. It is really just so devastating. Christian i just want to bring our viewers a statement we just had. This is jeremy bowen reporting. He spoke to someone in the Israeli Defense force Office Tonight he says this, a hospital is a highly sensitive building and is not an idf target. The idf is investigating the source of the explosion and as always is prioritizing accuracy and reliability. We urge everyone to proceed with caution when reporting unverified claims of a terrorist organization. You have seen statements like that throughout the last 10 days. How would you react to that . Well, i think it will be very difficult. I am not an expert of munitions or airstrikes or anything like that. We would just have to go with what the security says through what our experts say as to the likelihood of what was the source of that strike. Christian we will get mark on shortly to give us the update, but i know what he is going to say is that we have to proceed with caution because hamas puts missiles and endangers people even close to hospitals. We know that ambulances have been used by hamas and hospitals have been used to store things in the past do we have to be a little bit circumspect about what caused this explosion . Well, i think that in any conflict, either side of a conflict should not be using human shields. It is not acceptable. That is probably all i can say at this time. Christian i want to get an impression of what you have. Yesterday, there was reporting that six tankers had come across at rafa. Mark today said they were redirected by hamas. Have you had any information on whether the fuel was brought across the border yesterday . I will just say that yesterday, the u. N. Was able to manage to access some fuel that was already in gaza on the palestinian side and that is probably what the sources are talking about that you are referring to. Christian was that few will directed to hospitals or taken away by hamas . No, that fuel was going to be used by the u. N. For humanitarian work to support the u. N. And other humanitarian actors in gaza. Christian and how much fuel do you have left . How much water do you have left to distribute . Well, that is a good question because it is a moving target every day, but we have about eight days of left, which means we have about eight days of water left. Fuel makes water through the generators and the plants. We have maybe eight days of commodities. It is getting very, very tight. And in the markets, there is nothing to buy. Going out to find water and bottles, there is not much available. Pretty much the market is bare w. Christian and yet there is this aid that is backed up where theyre a ceasefire the gates were opened, how could the situation be alleviated . It would be alleviated very quickly once the trucks start rolling in. It is needed and it needs to happen. It needs to happen very quickly because if it does not happen within a few days, they are sitting on a powder gag here powder keg here and people are so desperate. Christian from viewers just joining us, we are talking about an explosion at the al ahli Baptist Hospital in gaza city. The Palestinian Health minister saying at least 500 people have been killed. There was talk of maybe 4000 people being at this hospital. With that frame up for you given your experience of where you are at this u. N. Office . That would not surprise me at all because we started when we came here about five days ago. Time is just moving. We had 25 people on the first day and now have 8000 people, so 4000, probably most of them idps taking refuge in a hospital, that is not inconceivable. Christian you are watching bbc news. Narrator funding for this presentation of this program is provided by. Narrator Financial Services firm, Raymond James. Narrator funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. And by judy and Peter Blum Kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Narrator funding for this presentation of this program isrovided by