A view of the destruction at Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, built by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) between the years 2011-2017 in Gaza City, Gaza on January 28, 2025. [Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea – Anadolu Agency]
The Israeli army claimed on Monday that it is investigating the bombing of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital building in central Gaza last weekend. It suspects that the commander of the 252nd Military Division, Yehuda Vach, ordered the bombing of the building without obtaining the necessary authorisation.
“According to military protocol, the destruction of buildings designated as ‘sensitive’ in the Gaza Strip – such as hospitals and universities – requires approval from the head of the Southern Command or the Chief of Staff,” reported Haaretz. “However, 252nd Division, [Brigadier General] Yehuda Vach allegedly unilaterally downgraded the building’s classification as sensitive, thereby circumventing the need for high-level approval.”
The newspaper quoted the occupation army as saying that, “The incident is being examined.”
The occupation forces converted the hospital — Gaza’s only specialist cancer treatment facility — into an army barracks several months ago. Nevertheless, military sources claimed that the attack on the building targeted “terrorists located in a Hamas terror infrastructure in an area that previously served as a hospital in central Gaza.”
The newspaper added: “The military clarified that although the Turkish Hospital building had not functioned as a hospital for the past year – following an IDF directive – it remained classified as a ‘sensitive target’, in line with similar structures. This designation was maintained because civilians often enter such buildings in search of food or equipment left behind by the military.”
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