Israel Destroys Sole Cancer Treatment Facility in Gaza Strip

Israeli occupation forces have destroyed the only hospital in Gaza dedicated to treating cancer patients, Qatar News Agency reported.

Quoting a press statement from the Gaza Ministry of Health, the agency stated that the Israeli army had blown up the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the sole medical facility specializing in cancer treatment in Gaza strip. The ministry noted that Israeli forces had occupied the hospital building for an extended period, using it as a military base during their control of the so-called Netzarim Corridor amid the ongoing assault on Gaza.

The ministry strongly condemned what it described as a "heinous crime", stating that this act is part of a systematic campaign to dismantle Gaza’s healthcare system and a continuation of genocide against Palestinians in the Strip.

The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital was completed in 2017, after construction began in 2011. The facility covered 33,400 square meters, consisting of eight buildings, including four major operating rooms, intensive care units, laboratories, and 180 patient rooms.

Located in Netzarim Corridor near Al-Mughraqa, in central Gaza, the hospital and its facilities were repurposed by Israeli forces as a command and control base and an initial interrogation center for Palestinian detainees during the war. Upon the Israeli army’s return to the corridor following the resumption of its assault last Tuesday, the hospital was rigged with explosives and completely demolished.

Director-general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr Munir Al Bursh, had previously warned of the catastrophic state of the health sector, reporting that 25 out of 38 hospitals in the Strip have been forced out of service due to Israeli attacks.

Israel resumed its aggression on Gaza at dawn last Tuesday, ending a two-month pause that had begun under a ceasefire agreement on January 19.