Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital
Geography
Location	Gaza Strip
Organisation
Funding	Built by TIKA; Operated by the Ministry of Health
Type	Specialist
Affiliated university	Islamic University of Gaza; Palestinian Ministry of Health
Services
Beds	200
Speciality	Oncology; Teaching
History
Construction started	2011
Opened	2020
Closed	2023 (part of Israel-Hamas War)

The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital was built and equipped by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA). In 2010, the Board of Trustees of the Islamic University of Gaza approved the establishment of a training and research hospital in the Gaza Strip.^[1] The construction of the Palestine-Turkey Friendship Hospital began in 2011. It was completed in 2017 at a total cost of 70 million US dollars.^[1][2] During the Israel–Hamas war, the hospital ran out of fuel. Gaza health officials reported that it shut down on November 1.^[3] The hospital director also stated that the hospital was hit in an Israeli airstrike.^[4] Since then, the Israeli Army has been using the location as a military base.^[5]

The hospital was built at the campus of the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic University of Gaza, which is located south of Gaza City. It has a total interior space of 33,400 sq. meters and consists of 8 interconnected blocks, with 4 operating rooms, intensive care units, laboratories, and 200 beds. In its full capacity, the hospital can serve up to 30,000 patients annually, as well as provide health training for 500 medical students, 800 nursing students, and 400 allied health services students per year.^[2][6]

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital began to operate as an isolation and treatment facility. A provisional deed of transfer was issued and signed by TİKA and the Rectorate of the Islamic University of Gaza, with the Gaza authorities taking over on March 26, 2020.^[1]

In November 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to subside, the Gaza Ministry of Health began relocating oncology and oncology-related services from the different governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip to the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in a bid to "unify the diagnostic and treatment services in one specialized and integrated center".^[6] The Hospital currently operates under a joint administration from IUG and the MoH.^[7]

During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, and amid the October 2023 Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, the hospital was forced to shut down, despite being Gaza's only cancer hospital, after running out of fuel.^[8] On October 30, hospital director Dr. Subhi Skaik stated the third floor of the hospital was hit in an Israeli airstrike.^[4] The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the airstrike "in the strongest terms" on the same day, stating it was a violation of international law.^[9] Israeli military stated it did not strike the hospital.^[10]

Satellite imagery has demonstrated that Israeli army also used the hospital as a base for military operations in 2024, prompting rebuke from the Turkish government.^[11][12]

• 
  A look at the southern entrance of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital and the IUG Faculty of Medicine. The TIKA logo can be seen on the main entrance.
• 
  The Hospital and the IUG Faculty of Medicine buildings as the appear in an aerial view taken from the north-east.
• 
  View of the hospital from the north
• 
  Outpatient clinics entrance

• List of hospitals in the State of Palestine