Arabic version: مقتل ستة في ضربة استهدفت مستشفى ناصر في غزة

According to ABC News, six people, including surgeon Rizk Abu Shaira, were killed in an Israeli air strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Palestinian health authorities said the attack occurred early on Thursday morning, local time, and Gaza’s Civil Defense agency said the hospital’s surgery department was hit. At least 20 people were injured, while video from the scene showed extensive damage to a building in the compound.

Gaza’s health ministry described the strike as a serious attack on the health system and a violation of international laws and conventions protecting medical facilities, employees and patients. It said continued attacks on hospitals and medical facilities were worsening conditions for sick and wounded people and threatening the health sector’s remaining capacity to provide services.

Hours after the strike, the Israel Defense Forces said a “senior Hamas terrorist and additional terrorists” had been using the hospital as a command centre. The IDF said the buildings were used to store weapons and conduct interrogations, and said it had taken steps to reduce harm to civilians, including precision munitions and aerial surveillance. It released graphics of the building that was struck, but did not provide further evidence supporting its claims about Hamas’s use of the site.

Hamas called the attack a “fully fledged war crime”. Physicians for Human Rights Israel said repeated attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers were devastating Gaza’s healthcare system. Nasser Hospital has been targeted several times during the war, which began after Hamas’s attacks on Israel in October 2023. Palestinian health authorities say more than 1,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the October 2025 ceasefire, and report Gaza’s overall death toll at more than 74,600.