Israeli airstrike on Nasser hospital in Gaza kills surgeon and five others

An Israeli airstrike on Nasser hospital in southern Gaza killed six people, including a surgeon and a disabled man, and wounded more than 20 others, the Palestinian news agency reported.

The Israeli military carried out the attack on the hospital, in Khan Younis, early on Thursday saying in a statement it had struck a Hamas commander and other fighters there, without providing evidence.

The strike destroyed part of the surgery department, and caused extensive damage to several floors. Videos showed smoke filling rubble-strewn hallways, with medical equipment broken and knocked over from the blast.

“The bombing caused thick smoke to fill the rooms and fires to break out, amid the groans of wounded and people’s screams. There were many casualties and blood everywhere … Most of us sustained injuries to our limbs, as well as shrapnel wounds in different parts of our bodies,” said Dr Ayman Abu Ubaid, a surgical specialist at Nasser medical complex who was wounded in the attack.

Ubaid said the strike happened at about 12.30am, without warning. “The patients in the department were all surgical patients waiting to undergo operations. The bombing happened at a time when they should have been asleep,” he said.

Among the dead was Rizk Abu Shaira, a general surgeon who had been featured in a documentary about doctors operating in Gaza, called American Doctor.

“Dr Rizk was in the American Doctor documentary operating and serving his people. He lost his life doing that, he lost his life because he was doing that,” Dr Thaer Ahmad, who also featured in the documentary, posted on X.

Nasser hospital is one of the last functioning healthcare facilities in Gaza after Israeli bombing made most of the strip’s facilities unusable. Israel also struck the hospital last year, killing five journalists in a double-tap strike on a location often used by reporters for filming.

The Israeli military has accused Hamas of using hospitals as command centres and to store weapons, an accusation the militant movement rejects. More than 1,700 healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza, while Israel has detained hundreds of medics since 7 October 2023, with at least 95 still in custody, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

About 90% of Gaza’s health infrastructure has been destroyed or damage by Israeli bombing, systematic destruction UN experts called “medicide”.

Attacking healthcare facilities and staff is illegal under international humanitarian law, though facilities can lose their protected status if they are used for military purposes.

There is an increased need for healthcare during the winter months in Gaza, where rains have displaced people from their tents and increased communicable diseases in crowded encampments.

One of those killed in Thursday’s strike was Seif Ghazi Abu Hatab, 29, who had checked in to Nasser hospital on Monday after a piece of debris fell on his back while he was helping clear rubble from a friend’s home. He was scheduled for surgery at 10am on Thursday, and was meant to receive further treatment abroad.

“Seif was a young man in the prime of his life. He wanted to live, rebuild his home and start a normal life, free from problems and suffering … Seif was killed after already losing two of his brothers and his father. His mother has now lost three of her sons,” said his cousin Tareq Abu Hatab, 37.

Israel launched the war in Gaza after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage. At least 74,645 people have since been killed in Gaza and Israel has carried out a genocide in the strip, according to the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Israel continues to carry out airstrikes in Gaza, killing more than 1,600 people since the October 2025 “ceasefire” according to the Gaza ministry of health.