Gaza Hospital Strike: Six Killed at Nasser Hospital

The Gaza hospital strike that hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis early on Thursday killed six people, Gaza's civil defence and health officials said.

The Gaza hospital strike tore through the surgical wing of the hospital in southern Gaza, one of the main hospitals still operating in the territory.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said the bodies of the six people killed, and more than 20 wounded people, were recovered from a building at the complex, AFP reported.

Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 28 people were wounded in the strike, AP reported.

What happened in the Gaza hospital strike

The strike came just after midnight and shook the whole building, British surgeon Goher Rahbour, who is volunteering at the hospital, told AP.

Rahbour was on the fourth floor of the surgical department at the time. He said the recovery area on the same floor was reduced to rubble.

Footage from inside the hospital showed the scale of the Gaza hospital strike, with wards and operating rooms heavily damaged or destroyed. Debris lay across hospital beds and equipment, with rebar dangling from ceiling holes.

Civil defence spokesman Bassal said the strike hit the surgery department on the second floor of the Al Yasin building, causing extensive damage, The National reported.

Among the dead was Dr Rizk Abu Shaira, a general surgeon, according to the Health Ministry. At least two of the dead were patients, one of them a 13 year old boy.

Rahbour said he had been operating alongside Abu Shaira only hours before the strike. He described him as a lovely man who was happy and smiling.

The hospital's director, Dr Ahmed al-Farra, said surgeries and other services had been suspended, with damage making work impossible for staff already struggling with shortages.

He said nearby facilities could not perform the specialised surgeries Nasser had provided, leaving such patients facing an unknown fate.

Hospital officials said it was the seventh attack on the Nasser complex.

What Israel says about the Gaza hospital strike

Israel's account of the Gaza hospital strike centred on one named commander. The military said it was targeting a Hamas commander and other militants, and that the commander it identified was not among the dead, AP reported.

The military named the commander as Muhammad Abu Ismail, who it said headed the Hamas Khan Younis Brigade and had used the facility as a headquarters for planning attacks.

The military did not say whether he was killed, and his name was not on the hospital's list of the dead.

AP reported that the military provided no evidence for its claim, and has provided only limited evidence for similar claims about hospitals during the war.

The military also said Hamas had established a presence inside the complex, and that it had warned on several occasions that military activity there must be halted.

Al-Farra said no warning came before the attack, disputing the military's account.

Hamas called the strike a heinous crime against a civilian medical facility, and hospital officials have denied that the site was used for military purposes.

Why the Gaza hospital strike hits a broken health system

Nasser is the biggest hospital in southern Gaza, and one of the few still able to offer specialised surgery and intensive care.

The World Health Organization says it has documented more than 1,050 attacks on health facilities in Gaza, causing more than 1,000 deaths, AP reported.

A joint United Nations, World Bank and European Union report said in April that more than 1,800 medical facilities in Gaza had been partially or completely destroyed since the conflict began.

Twenty of Gaza's 36 prewar hospitals still function, and none is fully operational, AP reported.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health facilities should never be militarised or attacked, and warned that Gaza's health needs will grow as winter sets in.

Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law, though AP noted that a hospital can lose that status if it is used for military purposes.

The Gaza hospital strike came despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025. Israel has carried out near daily strikes in Gaza since the truce began, AP reported.

Health authorities in Gaza say 1,622 people have been killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire since the truce took effect. The overall death toll in Gaza has passed 74,600, according to the territory's Health Ministry.

For the medical staff still working at Nasser, the immediate task after the Gaza hospital strike was salvage. Workers picked through the rubble of the surgical wing to rescue whatever medical equipment could still be used.

Gaza hospital strike: common questions

What happened in the Gaza hospital strike?

An Israeli airstrike hit the surgical wing of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis early on Thursday, destroying operating rooms and patient wards in the Al Yasin building, according to the hospital and witnesses.

How many people were killed and wounded in the Gaza hospital strike?

Six people were killed, according to the Gaza civil defence and the Health Ministry. The civil defence said more than 20 wounded were recovered, while the ministry said at least 28 people were wounded. The figures have not been independently confirmed.

Who was the surgeon killed in the strike?

The Health Ministry named him as Dr Rizk Abu Shaira, a general surgeon at Nasser Hospital. Medics gave his name to Reuters in the spelling Rezik Abushira.

What did Israel say it was targeting?

The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander, named as Muhammad Abu Ismail, and other militants it said were using the hospital as a base. AP reported that he was not among the dead and that no evidence was provided for the claim.

Was the hospital warned before the Gaza hospital strike?

The Israeli military said it had warned on several occasions that military activity at the hospital must stop. The hospital's director, Dr Ahmed al-Farra, said no warning came before this attack, AP reported.

How many hospitals are still working in Gaza?

Twenty of Gaza's 36 prewar hospitals are still functioning, and none is fully operational, according to AP reporting. The WHO says 47 percent of essential medicines were out of stock in its September report.