Lammy slams Israel's 'deplorable' attack on Gaza hospital
David Lammy has criticised Israel for a "deplorable" attack on a hospital in Gaza.
Listen to this article
The pre-dawn strike on Palm Sunday hit Anglican-run Al-Ahli Hospital - the only Christian unit in Gaza.
Patients were forced to evacuate and a girl died as people fled because medical staff were unable to provide her urgent care, Gaza's ministry of health reported.
Responding to the hospital strike, Britain's Foreign Secretary said "these deplorable attacks must end".
Mr Lammy said: "Israel's attacks on medical facilities have comprehensively degraded access to healthcare in Gaza.
"Al-Ahli Hospital has been attacked repeatedly since the conflict began."
He added: "Diplomacy not more bloodshed is how we will achieve a lasting peace."
Read more: Israel's decision to bar two MPs from entering country 'smacks of racism', claims MP
Israel gave an immediate evacuation order 20 minutes before it attacked, according to the Diocese of Jerusalem (DoJ), which runs the hospital.
The country is intensifying its attacks across the Gaza Strip and the DoJ said this is the fifth time the hospital has been bombed since the start of the war in 2023.
Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week, the most sacred week of the Christian year.
The Archbishop of York also condemned the strike.
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said in a statement on Sunday: "The Anglican-run Ahli Hospital in Gaza is a place of healing and care for Palestinians living through unimaginable suffering.
"In unbearable conditions, its heroic doctors and nurses have cared for civilians who have endured 18 months of devastating violence.
"For the only Christian hospital in Gaza to be attacked on Palm Sunday is especially appalling.
"I share in the grief of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Jerusalem."
He said he was praying for the hospital's staff and patients, and the family of the girl "who tragically died during the evacuation".
"At the start of Holy Week, I join the cries of Christians around the world for an end to this violence - and for justice, security, dignity and peace for Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
Israel claimed it struck a command and control centre used by Hamas at the hospital to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
It said that before the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm, including issuing warnings and using precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
Like the Archbishop, the DoJ criticised the Al-Ahli Hospital attack as appalling.
The diocese - which covers Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon - called "upon all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions".