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Non-functional
Turkish Friendship Hospital
Facility Type
Speciality Hospital
Ownership type
Government sector
Governorates / District
Deir al Balah
Address
Al-Zahraa City – near Al Nour Tourist Resort
Founding Year
2011
Facility director
Sobhi Skaik
Beds Capacity
272
List of medical specialties and services
Emergency medicine
Endoscopy
Obstetrics and gynaecology
Pediatrics
Nursery
Forensic medicine
Inpatients
Renal medicine
Intensive care
Long-term care
Equipment and facilities
Radiology
Blood bank
Laboratory services
Pharmacy
Description (About the Facility)

The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital is a university teaching hospital in Al-Zahra in the central part of Gaza, affiliated with the Islamic University in Gaza. In 2011, a delegation from the university's Faculty of Medicine submitted a request to the Turkish Prime Ministry to obtain funding to build a university hospital. The hospital was subject to several obstacles that hindered its use and opening for several years related to disputes over its management between the Ministries of Health in Gaza and Ramallah, especially since the Turkish government wanted to hand it over to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. The dispute was overcome due to the need to use the hospital during the coronavirus pandemic[1]. It was eventually opened in March 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic to meet emergency medical needs, thus becoming a teaching hospital under the supervision of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, providing its services primarily as a specialized hospital for cancer patients, and secondarily for cardiac patients, and includes fully equipped operating rooms[2]. The hospital has eight buildings, with a clinical capacity of 272 beds, and the hospital staff consists of 248 health personnel[3]. It provides services to more than 10,000 cancer patients.

narrative during this war

On October 17, 2023: The Turkish- Palestinian Friendship Hospital administration announced that large parts of its services had stopped working due to lack of fuel and its remaining services ceased 48 hours later, leaving all oncology patients in the Gaza Strip without services[4].

On October 29, 2023: Occupation forces bombed and severely damaged the hospital in shelling of its vicinity[5].

On October 30, 2023: The hospital's management appealed to the Turkish government to intervene to protect the hospital and its medical staff[6]. Occupation forces targeted the hospital for the second time, causing severe damage to the hospital and disrupting some of its electromechanical systems[7].

On October 31, 2023: The hospital administration repeated its appeal to the Turkish government to protect the only hospital for cancer patients in Gaza[8].

On November 1, 2023, the Ministry of Health announced that the hospital was rendered completely out of service due to the lack of fuel, the prevention of the entry of medicines for patients and repeated Israeli targets[9], which forced the hospital to provide partial services to patients in health centers located in Rafah city, and to move overnight patients, laboratory and radiology services to the Mohammed Yousef al-Najjar Hospital[10].

On November 3, 2023: The Ministry of Health announced the death of four cancer patients as a result of the hospital being out of service due to targeting and running out of fuel[11].

On December 24, 2023: The hospital administration tried to provide some services to patients to save their lives by relocating them to several hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip, including Al-Wusta patients to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Khan Yunis patients to the Nasser Hospital, and Rafah patients to the Abu Yusuf al-Najjar Hospital[12].

On January 3, 2024: The hospital stated that there were no medicines for cancer patients, that more than 2,200 requests for transfers abroad had been submitted, and the hospital administration re-launched an appeal to facilitate travel for the treatment of more than 2,600 cases in need of immediate treatment[13].

On February 23, 2024: Videos showed an occupation army soldier completely destroying one of the buildings of the Turkish Friendship Hospital[14].

On May 11, 2024: Al Jazeera published a report indicating that the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital had been transformed into an Israeli military barracks, as analysis of satellite images taken between November 2023 and April 2024 showed the presence of dozens of Israeli military vehicles inside the hospital’s facilities and earthen fortifications around it, and a logistical supply line was linked between the hospital and the Nitzrim road separating the northern and southern Gaza Strip[15].

On July 23, 2024: Media outlets published a video showing an Israeli soldier smashing an MRI machine inside the hospital[16].

On August 2, 2024: The administration of the hospital announced on its Facebook page that the hospital provides chemotherapy services at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and at the Razi Center in the Nuseirat area[17]. 

 

The main targeting and assaults During the genocide

Related testimonies

Related testimonies

محمد ابو ندى - المدير الطبي لمستشفى الصداقة التركي الفلسطيني
معاناة مرضى الاورام في ظل العدوان الإسرائيلي على قطاع غزة
- وزارة الصحة الفلسطينية (غزة)
Sources
  1. Al Akhbar Newspaper, News release.
  2. Holy Land Website, Web Archive.
  3. Health Cluster, Report.
  4. Palestinian Ministry of Health - Gaza, Telegram.
  5. Palestinian Ministry of Health - Gaza, Telegram.
  6. Palestinian Ministry of Health – Gaza, Telegram.
  7. Palestinian Ministry of Health - Gaza, Telegram.
  8. Palestinian Ministry of Health – Gaza, Telegram.
  9. Sky News Arabia, News release. 
  10. Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, Facebook.
  11.  Palestinian Ministry of Health - Gaza, Telegram.
  12.  Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, Facebook.
  13.  Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, Facebook.
  14. Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, News release.
  15. Al Jazeera Media Network, News Encyclopedia.
  16. Quds News Network, Telegram.
  17. Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, Facebook.