Airwars assessment
On October 30th, 2023, an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital just south of Gaza City. It is unclear whether injuries occurred directly from the strike. While Shehab Agency said civilians were wounded, MSF reported “no patients were harmed.” The strike nevertheless put great strain on the hospital and patients’ well-being, ultimately reportedly resulting in the death of four patients who did not receive life-saving care due to the strike.
Sobhi Skaik, the Director General of the hospital, lamented that the strike “endangered [patients’] lives by targeting the hospital surroundings.” This, he said, augmented the pain caused by the war generally, which had “increased the suffering and pain of cancer patients and deprived them of medicines and travel for treatment abroad.” Others on social media grieved the human cost. Twitter/X user @Aywa_anaBen0a mourned that “pregnant women, the elderly, children, and even cancer patients were not spared.” Amongst those in the hospital, “a state of panic” was widespread. Hospital workers were made to “evacuate patients from the upper departments and secure them in the basement to preserve their lives and protect them.” At least seventy cancer patients were “seriously threatened.” Reuters, quoting the Gazan Health Ministry, said that four patients later died due to the hospital being out of service.
Local and international media companies such as Anadolu Agency, Al Mamlaka TV and Alghad TV reported on the bombing. AA News claimed that the strike destroyed both the third and top floor of the hospital, both of which provided care for cancer patients; it is the only hospital within the Gaza Strip able to provide such treatment. Al Arabiya News, quoting journalist Khader al-Zaanoun, alleged that the third floor had entirely collapsed because of a strike-induced fire. The bombardment also caused electromechanical systems to malfunction.
The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Palestine with an area of 34,800 square metres, three floors, and 180 beds; it also functions as a training center for medical staff. Sources alleged that Israeli forces struck the hospital multiple times: reports published by Quds News, @Refugeesps and Alghad TV indicated that Israeli forces repeatedly bombed the hospital. Fajer TV claimed that this strike was the second.
The strike triggered condemnations from abroad. The hospital, supported by Médicins San Frontieres, was built in 2017 with “a generous donation from the Turkish government.” Accordingly, Director General Skaik urged the Turkish government to “protect this humanitarian medical edifice, which has constituted an important transformation in the care of cancer patients in the Gaza Strip.”
Al Jazeera Turkiye reported that Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that following the reported Israeli bombings, Turkey would take “necessary measures to continue its services at the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital.” His statements were censorious: “those who bomb everything that moves, even the vicinity of the hospital, must prepare themselves to be held accountable for this before the court of conscience.” Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the strike, which they did “in the strongest terms.” There was, the Ministry wrote, “no explanation for such an attack.” The Times of Israel quoted the Turkish Foreign Ministry as saying “all necessary information, including the coordinates of the institution in question was shared with the Israeli authorities in advance.” Turkiye was, sources suggested, “ready to take in cancer patients” from the hospital.
On November 1st, the World Health Organization (WHO) in their Twitter/X post also commented on the alleged strike, posting that “the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital is no longer functional due to the lack of fuel and the damage that was caused by the Israeli airstrikes in its vicinity over the past 48 hours.” They consequently “called for sustained access at scale for humanitarian aid – including fuel, water, food and medical supplies – into Gaza,” and for the “active protection of civilians and health care.”
Multiple sources shared videos and photographs documenting the moments of the bombing. @TVManar1, @uzisal and Refugeesps on their Twitter/X and Facebook posts shared a video documenting the moment the Israeli military allegedly bombed the vicinity of the Turkish Friendship Hospital. Alghad TV, as part of a live broadcast, shared a video showing the hospital and its surroundings covered in smoke, causing panic among the public.
The Turkish Palestinian Friendship Hospital shared images showing the damage caused by the bombing, along with an overcrowded hospital floor crowded with patients.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed air strikes to Israeli forces. When asked for comment by CNN, the Israeli Military stated that “The IDF did not strike Gaza’s Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital.” It did not offer any further information.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
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