Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said an Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed six people and injured about 30 early Thursday, the BBC reported.
The hospital's director, Dr. Ahmed al-Fara, said Israeli forces fired two missiles at the al-Yasin surgery building, which contains surgical wards and intensive care units, and that only one exploded. He said the strike caused "huge damage" to infrastructure inside the hospital and had hit "doctors... civilians... patients." The ministry said those killed included medical staff, patients and companions, among them surgeon Dr. Rizq Abu Shaira. Footage filmed by a freelance journalist working for the BBC showed damage to an operating theater, wards, a sleeping area for medics, hallways and lifts. News agencies published photos that appeared to show an unexploded missile, the BBC reported. Nasser is the largest hospital in southern Gaza and serves almost one million people, according to the report.
Dr. Mohammed Qdeih, a general surgeon who was wounded in the head, told the BBC that staff had just finished work around 12:30 a.m. and were preparing to sleep when an explosion hit. He said his body was trapped under rubble, that he crawled free in the dark, and that he had been lying in a bed near Dr. Abu Shaira, who was killed. "Patients were killed as well," he said. "A patient comes to the hospital seeking treatment and leaves carried on people's shoulders."
Israel's account, and the hospital's denial
The Israeli military said in a statement that a "precise strike" had targeted the commander of Hamas's Khan Younis Brigade, whom it named as Mohammed Abu Ismail, and other fighters it said were "hiding inside" Nasser Hospital after turning the compound into a "headquarters." It said it had issued advance warnings and released an audio recording of what it described as a warning to a senior Gaza health official. Fara said the hospital had received no warning. Hamas called the Israeli account "false narratives" and "a blatant attempt to justify a documented crime." The BBC also reported that local activists circulated unverified claims that the strike may have targeted a senior Hamas security figure inside the building. This account does not adjudicate those conflicting claims. The casualty figures come from the Hamas-run health ministry and have not been independently confirmed in the BBC report.
Fara said this was the seventh time Nasser Hospital had been struck during the war, including a double strike in August 2025 that the BBC said killed 22 Palestinians, including journalists and health workers. The World Health Organization said it had documented 1,056 attacks on health care in Gaza over the past three years, resulting in 1,010 deaths. "Gaza's health facilities are lifelines for its people. They must be protected. They must never be militarized or attacked," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.