An Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed six people, including a general surgeon, and wounded at least 20 more early on Thursday, in a strike that hit one of the few functioning medical facilities left in the territory. The Nasser Hospital strike has drawn condemnation from Hamas and fresh questions about the fragile ceasefire.
The strike was carried out early Thursday, according to the Israeli military, which said it struck a Hamas commander and other militants, without providing evidence. Gaza’s Health Ministry said the strike hit the hospital’s surgical wing and that a doctor, Rizk Abu Shaira, was among the dead. Gaza’s civil defence service said the airstrike hit the surgery department of the hospital in Khan Younis, causing extensive damage, and put the wounded figure at 20, while the Health Ministry said at least 28 were wounded.
Hospital Director Reports Heavy Damage
Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis is one of the few functioning medical facilities left in Gaza, whose healthcare infrastructure has been decimated by a yearslong war. The hospital’s director said the strike caused extensive damage to the intensive care and surgical wards. Gaza’s civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal said the airstrike hit the second floor of the complex. Reuters said it could not independently verify the Israeli military’s allegations that Hamas was operating inside the hospital.
In a statement, the Israeli military accused Hamas of using the hospital complex as a command centre for military operations, including storing weapons, operating command-and-control rooms and using hospital facilities as observation posts and shelters for fighters. Hamas strongly condemned the strike as a war crime, with spokesman Hazem Qassem saying the bombing of the facility and the targeting of patients and medical staff “constitute a full-fledged war crime”.
Ceasefire Under Strain
The strike marks a major breach of the fragile ceasefire agreement that went into effect in October 2025. Earlier on Thursday, Israeli attacks killed seven other Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, according to reports. Israeli breaches of the ceasefire have resulted in the killing of at least 1,622 Palestinians and injuries to more than 5,878 others since it took effect, according to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The hospital attack comes as Gaza’s civilians face a harsh winter, with flooding already affecting displaced families sheltering in tents. For more on the humanitarian situation, see our report on Gaza floods leaving 500,000 children facing winter in flooded tents and Israel’s Knesset sworn in as Eisenkot vows to reverse Netanyahu rule.
