Table of Contents
An Israeli air strike on the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern Gaza Strip has left six people dead and approximately 30 injured, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The facility, located in Khan Younis, is the largest hospital in southern Gaza and serves a population of nearly one million people.
Hospital Impact and Casualties
The hospital’s director, Dr Ahmed al-Fara, stated at a news conference that two missiles struck the al-Yasin surgery building overnight, though one of the devices failed to detonate. The health ministry reported that the attack claimed the lives of medical personnel, patients, and their companions, including surgeon Dr Rizq Abu Shaira. BBC News reported that a freelance journalist documented extensive damage to an operating theatre, wards, a sleeping area for medics, corridors, and elevators.
Dr Mohammed Qdeih, a general surgery specialist who sustained a head injury in the blast, recounted to BBC News that the explosion occurred just as medical staff finished their shifts and prepared for sleep. Trapped beneath the rubble in the dark, he managed to free himself and crawl out, noting that Dr Abu Shaira and patients in nearby rooms were killed.
Military and Official Responses
The Israeli military stated that the precise strike targeted a commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, named as Mohammed Abu Ismail, along with other fighters. The military alleged that these individuals were operating from a headquarters inside the hospital complex to plan attacks against its forces, adding that advance warnings were issued. Dr Fara firmly denied that the hospital received any prior warning.
Hamas rejected the Israeli justification as false narratives and a blatant attempt to cover up a war crime. Under international law, hospitals maintain protected status, though they have faced repeated attacks throughout the ongoing conflict. International news organizations, including the BBC, are barred by Israel from entering Gaza, preventing independent verification of events on the ground.
Broader Healthcare Impact in Gaza
Dr Fara noted that this incident marked the seventh time Nasser hospital has been struck during the conflict, following a double strike in August 2025 that killed 22 people. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the UN agency has recorded 1,056 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza over the past three years, resulting in 1,010 deaths, while emphasizing that medical lifelines must remain protected and free from militarization.
Later on Thursday, additional strikes and gunfire in northern and central Gaza resulted in at least four more deaths. Despite a US-brokered ceasefire agreement reached in October of the previous year, daily Israeli strikes continue in the territory, bringing the total death toll in Gaza since the outbreak of the war in October 2023 to more than 74,650, according to health ministry figures.
