Jerusalem [Israel], March 23: Israel has blown up Gaza's only specialised cancer treatment hospital, as well as an adjacent medical school, drawing condemnation for again targeting a medical facility, which is banned under international humanitarian law.
Friday's explosion flattened central Gaza's Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which had already been severely damaged by Israeli air strikes since October 2023. Footage posted online showed a massive ball of fire and smoke rising from the location after the Israeli military carried out the demolition.
It came as Israel announced that it was expanding its operation in the so-called Netzarim Corridor near the hospital, and blocked all movement on Salah al-Din Street.
Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum, who is reporting from Gaza's Deir el-Balah, said the destruction has left thousands of patients in the besieged territory with nowhere to go for cancer treatment, amid the resumption of the deadly Israeli military operation.
The third floor of the hospital was previously hit in an Israeli air strike on October 30, 2023. Fuel shortages forced the hospital to shut down on November 1, 2023, with the UN warning the lives of 70 patients were at risk. It later emerged that four patients died at the hospital due to a lack of medical care.
"The hospital was being used as a command centre by Israeli forces during their previous military assault in central and northern Gaza," Al Jazeera's Abu Azzoum said.
"It was blown up completely after having been rebuilt with a Turkish donation of $34mn in 2017," he added.
Israel later confirmed it destroyed the cancer hospital, claiming it was used by Hamas - without providing any evidence.
In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the "deliberate" destruction as "part of Israel's policy aimed at rendering Gaza uninhabitable and forcibly displacing the Palestinian people." "We call on the international community to take concrete and deterrent measures against Israel's unlawful attacks and systematic state terrorism," the ministry added.
Gaza Ministry of Health also condemned Israel's "criminal behaviour", which it said is "in line with the systematic destruction of the health system and the completion of the episodes of genocide". The hospital was considered the largest cancer treatment facility in Gaza, and was the only hospital accredited to treat up to 30,000 cancer patients a year.
Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, five children were declared dead upon arrival at al-Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, following an air strike in northern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, who is reporting from Gaza City on Saturday.
"There have been almost nonstop air strikes across northern Gaza and Gaza City within the past five hours, with two massive air strikes targeting more residential buildings," he said.
As Israeli bombardments continue, Hamas said it is considering the United States "bridge" proposal to restore the ceasefire, the Reuters news agency reports, quoting an unnamed official from the group.
Germany, France and Britain are pressing the US to support an immediate restoration of the Gaza truce and for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the besieged enclave.
But President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff remained vague about a ceasefire. In an interview with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, he said Trump's plan for Gaza is to achieve "stability", while noting that "stability in Gaza could mean some people come back . some people don't".
Source: Qatar Tribune
