Netanyahu approves construction of Israeli emergency room over ancient graves

Israeli emergency room to be built over graves

JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister has decided a new emergency room for a hospital near Gaza will be built on its original site, despite the discovery of graves there.

Benjamin Netanyahu reversed an earlier decision by his Cabinet to move the new facility more than 100 meters away because of the ancient pagan graves.

Monday’s announcement is sure to win praise from doctors. They warned that if rockets hit Ashkelon again, the trip from a separate emergency room to Barzilai Hospital could be fatal. Ashkelon, a southern coastal city of 100,000, has been hit often.

But this could spark political trouble. An ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition had originally insisted on the move. There was no immediate comment from the party, whose leader serves as deputy health minister.