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Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital
The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital is a hospital in Gaza, Palestine, built and equipped by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA). In 2010, the Board of Trustees of the Islamic University of Gaza approved its establishment as a training and research hospital in the Gaza Strip.[1] The construction of the Palestine-Turkey Friendship Hospital began in 2011. It was completed in 2017 at a total cost of 70 million US dollars.[1][2] During the Israeli-imposed siege on the Gaza Strip, the hospital ran out of fuel. Gaza health officials reported that it shut down on November 1.[3] The hospital director also stated that the hospital was hit in an Israeli airstrike.[4] Since then, the Israeli Army has been using the location as a military base.[5] Prior to its destruction, the hospital was the only hospital in Gaza equipped to serve cancer patients.[6]  FacilitiesThe hospital was built at the campus of the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic University of Gaza, which is located south of Gaza City. It has a total interior space of 33,400 sq. meters and consists of 8 interconnected blocks, with 4 operating rooms, intensive care units, laboratories, and 200 beds. In its full capacity, the hospital can serve up to 30,000 patients annually, as well as provide health training for 500 medical students, 800 nursing students, and 400 allied health services students per year.[2][7] OperationsIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital began to operate as an isolation and treatment facility. A provisional deed of transfer was issued and signed by TİKA and the Rectorate of the Islamic University of Gaza, with the Gaza authorities taking over on March 26, 2020.[1] In November 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to subside, the Gaza Ministry of Health began relocating oncology and oncology-related services from the different governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip to the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in a bid to "unify the diagnostic and treatment services in one specialized and integrated center".[7] The Hospital currently operates under a joint administration from IUG and the MoH.[8] Gaza WarDuring the Gaza war, and amid the October 2023 Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, the hospital was forced to shut down, despite being Gaza's only cancer hospital, after running out of fuel.[9] On October 30, hospital director Dr. Subhi Skaik stated the third floor of the hospital was hit in an Israeli airstrike.[4] The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the airstrike "in the strongest terms" on the same day, stating it was a violation of international law.[10] The Israeli army also used the hospital as a military base in 2024, prompting rebuke from the Turkish government.[11][12] Gallery
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