Dr. Sobhi Skaik, Director General of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, said that the Israeli occupation army re-targeted the only Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital for cancer patients in the Gaza Strip for the second time, causing severe damage to it, disrupting some of the electromechanical work systems, and endangering the lives of patients and staff.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health announced that the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip caused damage to the only “Turkish Friendship Hospital” for cancer patients in the Strip.

This came in a press statement by the hospital's general director, Sobhi Skaik, in which he said that the Israeli army repeatedly targeted the hospital's vicinity.

According to the statement, “A state of panic afflicts cancer patients and medical staff as a result of the only Turkish Friendship Hospital for cancer patients in the Gaza Strip being severely damaged as a result of the Israeli occupation repeatedly targeting its surroundings.”

He added: “The occupation not only increased the suffering and pain of cancer patients and deprived them of medicines and travel for treatment abroad, but it now endangered their lives by targeting the hospital’s surroundings.”

In another statement, Skaik said: “The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital was built with a generous donation from the Turkish government to become a humanitarian medical model that alleviates the suffering of patients exhausted by the Israeli siege.”

He added: “Today, this occupier, with all brutality, wants to destroy this edifice, which embodies part of the Turkish people’s love for our Palestinian people.”

Skaik called on the Turkish presidency and government to “stop the Israeli orgy and protect this medical humanitarian edifice, which has constituted an important transformation in the care of cancer patients in the Gaza Strip.”

The Turkish Friendship Hospital is located at a point close to the area into which Israeli forces entered on Monday morning, before retreating to areas close to the eastern border of the Gaza Strip.

The Turkish government funded the construction of the hospital (2011-2017), which is the largest hospital in Palestine with an area of 34,800 square meters, consisting of 6 floors, and containing 180 beds.