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 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.”