Jerusalem allows Turkey access to Gaza for hospital construction

The Israeli government has authorized Turkey to ship construction materials into the Gaza Strip and to build a new hospital there, Turkish and Israeli media reported. The decision is apparently meant as a gesture aimed at improving the strained relations between Jerusalem and Ankara. "Security officials said yesterday that the permission was given 'as part of the policy of Israeli openness toward the Turks. This appears to be an important step in helping produce reconciliation between Turkey and Israel," the newspaper 'Israel Hayom', which is considered close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote.

The Turkish-Palestine Friendship Hospital is expected to be finished within a year, and its inauguration could bring a visit to Gaza by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish daily Hürriyet reported on Monday. Israel spent two months studying a list of materials required for construction of the 150-bed medical center that will be the largest in Gaza.

Turkish trucks were finally given permission last week to roll into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom border crossing, although the report did not say when work on the hospital will begin. The project is being financed by the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency and constructed by the Norway-based Aker Construction Company.