Bishop of Norwich left 'numb' over blast at Gaza hospital he recently visited
"I have great concern for the medics and staff who I met during that visit"
The Bishop of Norwich said he was left "numb" after a hospital in Gaza he visited just two weeks ago was hit by an explosion on Tuesday night.
Graham Usher said that "4,000 to 5,000 people" had sought sanctuary in the compound of the al Ahli hospital in the last few days.
Speaking to the PA news agency, the bishop said: "Following on from the brutality of the Hamas attacks on Israel, I am just horrified by the escalation of the violence.
"I went numb as I saw the pictures of places I'd been just two weeks ago, and I have great concern for the medics and staff who I met during that visit."
The bishop said the Anglican-run hospital had "always served the poorest of the poor" and was "politically neutral" as it does not receive political funding from Gaza.
He said: "Its funding comes from Anglican churches around the world. It is a place of sanctuary and 4,000 to 5,000 people were living in the compound in the last few days, so you can only imagine the horror.
"It has 80 beds and since the war started has received a lot of wounded patients."
The blast at al Ahli on Tuesday night led to worldwide condemnation, amid reports of hundreds of fatalities.
The hospital was hit by an earlier strike on Saturday night, which the bishop said damaged its cancer diagnostic centre and injured four members of staff.
He added that the home of the hospital's medical director, Dr Maher Ayyad, had also been damaged by a recent missile.
The bishop said that he understood Dr Ayyad had "immediately returned to work and caring for patients".
During his visit to Gaza, the bishop met the hospital's director, Suhaila Tarazi - who he understands is safe.
The bishop described Ms Tarazi as "an amazing woman", adding that she told him during their meeting that the mission of the hospital was "love".
Embrace the Middle East, a UK-based Christian development charity which has worked with al Ahli, said the strike on the hospital was "numbing".
An official at the charity said the hospital had "a very good local reputation" and "strong outreach services to marginalised communities in Gaza".
They said that the charity believed the hospital's senior team were alive, adding that health infrastructure in Gaza was already severely impaired before the latest conflict, meaning "what happens next is a real concern".
The hospital is currently managed by the Anglican Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem which said it condemned the strike.
In a statement, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem said: "Hospitals, by the tenets of international humanitarian law, are sanctuaries, yet this assault has transgressed those sacred boundaries.
"We heed the call of Archbishop Justin Welby, who implored for the safeguarding of medical facilities and the rescission of evacuation orders. Regrettably, Gaza remains bereft of safe havens."
Al Ahli hospital was founded in 1882 by the Church Mission Society of the Church of England.