Six people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported. The victims include surgeon Rizk Abu Shaira and a 13-year-old boy. According to various reports, between 20 and 28 people were injured.
The strike hit the surgical department building. Several floors, operating rooms and hospital facilities were damaged. The work of the surgery, radiology, laboratory and surgical departments has been suspended.
“Everything suddenly turned upside down. At one point, it became dark,” doctor Ayman Abu Obeid, who was injured in the attack, told Reuters. He was on night duty when the blast destroyed the room where he and other medical workers had been sleeping.
Israel said it targeted a Hamas commander
The Israeli military said the strike targeted a senior Hamas commander and other militants who, according to the military, were inside the hospital complex. The military claims that the group used the site as a headquarters and planned attacks from there.
The Israeli military did not publicly present evidence for the claim. It said precision munitions and aerial surveillance had been used in an effort to limit harm to civilians.
Hamas rejected the accusation that it had used the hospital as a base for operations. It was not reported whether the commander identified by Israel was among those killed or wounded.
The strike halted work in key departments
Nasser Hospital director Ahmed al-Fara told the Associated Press that no warning had been issued before the attack. He said medical teams had been forced to stop surgeries and suspend work in the radiology and laboratory departments because of the damage.
“No one is safe here,” al-Fara said. He warned that other medical facilities in the area lacked the necessary capacity to perform the specialized surgeries that had been carried out at Nasser Hospital.
The hospital is one of the few medical facilities still operating in Gaza. According to hospital staff, the complex has been attacked at least seven times since the beginning of the war. In a previous strike in 2025, 22 people were killed there, including five journalists.
Israel began its military operation in Gaza after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. According to Gaza health authorities, more than 74,600 Palestinians have been killed since then. The ministry does not distinguish between civilian and militant casualties.
Sources: apnews.com, investing.com, theguardian.com