Israeli jets destroy Gaza baby clinic

Israeli fighter jets have levelled a mother and baby clinic in the Gaza Strip, with patients and workers given just 15 minutes to evacuate. Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of medical equipment was destroyed by the strike, which took place on Saturday night in Gaza City. Christian Aid, whose partner agency Near East Council of Churches ran the clinic, told inthenews.co.uk that the Israeli army has given no reason for the attack. A spokesperson said that the owners of the two-storey building received a telephone call from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to evacuate within 15 minutes, whereupon an F16 jet fired a warning shot then a direct missile hit which destroyed the building. The Near East Council of Churches has been running Christian Aid-supported projects in Gaza for more than 20 years, while the European Union has been a prominent donor in the last decade. Speaking as the death-toll from ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza surpasses 900, Constantine Dabbagh, the executive director of the council, called on the world to "wake up and stop this". "They need to wake up and end the siege and the occupation," she said. "Then there will be some time for peace and reconciliation. "Otherwise, this bloody atmosphere will continue. The responsibility of the superpowers, including the US and Britain, is to stop these horrors. "If it does not we will all encounter more miserable conditions in the future, God forbid." Christian Aid's Janet Symes, the charity's head of Middle East Region, said she had visited the clinic in question, which provided essential free primary health care to the Gazan community, including mother and child clinics, neo-natal care and family planning. "It was standing room only as so many mothers had brought their babies and small children for check ups or treatment," she said. "The doctors were telling me how they'd increased their hours but still needed more staff to be able to cope with the huge numbers of patients. Now the whole clinic lies in ruins. All the equipment is destroyed. "This just underlines how critical an immediate ceasefire is to stop this destruction." On Monday Israel deployed reservists in Gaza as the conflict showed no signs of ending as it reached its 17th day. Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert says Israel will not withdraw until it has achieved its stated aims of ending Hamas rocket-fire; despite a UN security council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.