Two premature Palestinian babies receiving treatment at Barzilai
Hospital's NICU
(Communicated by the Barzilai Medical Center Ashkelon's spokesperson)
3 Mar 2008

Last week, a Palestinian woman from Beit Lahia gave birth to twins at the
Barzilai Medical Centre in Ashkelon. The twins, born prematurely, weighed
less than 1.5 kgs each. They were admitted to the medical center's neonatal
intensive care unit, where they were treated by the medical team.

The first Hamas missiles began raining down on Ashkelon on Saturday (1
March) shortly after 5 a.m. When the Hamas shelling of Ashkelon started, the
twins, a boy and girl, were still in the NICU. One of the Grad rockets fell
a mere 50 meters from the hospital entrance. All the premature babies in the
NICU unit, including the two Palestinian babies, were transferred to the
hospital's bomb shelter for fear that the hospital itself would receive a
direct missile hit.

Ashkelon Hospital was established in 1961 and renamed the Barzilai Medical
Center ten years later. The Medical Center currently has approximately 500
beds, and serves the area stretching from Ashdod in the north to Sderot in
the south and Kiryat Gat in the east.