Six dead in Gaza hospital strike

Six people, including a general surgeon and a 13-year-old boy, died when an Israeli airstrike hit Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza on Thursday. The attack struck the facility's surgical wing, leaving at least 28 others wounded.

The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted a Hamas commander and other militants. The specific commander identified by the army was not among those killed. The hospital's general director, Ahmed al-Farra, said no warning was given before the attack. The Israeli army countered that it had issued warnings on several occasions, including recently, urging that military activity at the hospital cease.

Dr. Rizk Abu Shaira, a general surgeon, was killed in the strike. British surgeon Goher Rahbour, who was volunteering at Nasser Hospital, said he was operating alongside Abu Shaira just hours before the explosion. Rahbour described the surgeon as a happy and smiling man. The strike occurred just after midnight, shaking the entire building. Rahbour was on the fourth floor of the surgical department and said the recovery area on that level was reduced to rubble. He described the scene as extremely smoky.

Witnesses and the Health Ministry reported that several wards and operating rooms were heavily damaged or destroyed. Debris was scattered across hospital beds and equipment, and rebar dangled from holes in the ceiling. Al-Farra said that surgeries and other services were suspended due to the damage. He noted that medical personnel were already struggling with supply shortages and miserable conditions before the strike. Al-Farra said that nearby medical facilities were not equipped to perform the specialized surgeries that Nasser Hospital had been providing, leaving those patients to face an unknown fate.

The hospital is one of the main facilities still operating in the Gaza Strip. A report from the United Nations, the World Bank, and the European Union stated in April that more than 1,800 medical facilities in Gaza have been partially or completely destroyed since the conflict began. Israeli forces have previously attacked Nasser Hospital. In 2025, a strike on a gathering point for local reporters at the complex killed 22 people, including five journalists.

The Israeli military said Hamas security men have been seen in hospitals during the war, controlling access to certain areas. In a statement on Thursday, the army said Hamas established a presence within the hospital complex and that the commander had turned it into a headquarters. The World Health Organization said health needs in Gaza remain immense and will grow as winter sets in. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health facilities should never be militarized or attacked.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Since then, Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 74,600 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half the dead. Israel has continued to strike Gaza despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire and controls at least 60% of the enclave. Since the truce went into effect in October 2025, Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed 1,622 people, according to health authorities.