KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — An overnight Israeli airstrike hit the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza early Thursday, killing at least six Palestinians—including a surgeon—and wounding more than 20 others, according to Gaza health and civil defense officials.
Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal stated that the strike struck the second floor of the Al-Yasin building inside the Khan Younis facility, directly hitting the hospital's surgical department and intensive care wards. Medical staff identified the slain surgeon as Dr. Rezik Abushira.
Footage and photographs from the aftermath showed collapsed ceilings, dangling electrical wires, and medical furniture buried under concrete rubble across the damaged rooms. Hospital personnel and first responders were seen carrying wounded patients and colleagues on stretchers through debris-strewn corridors.
The destruction forced the immediate shutdown of operations in the hospital’s surgical ward, further straining one of the last major medical facilities operating in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military confirmed it conducted the overnight strike at the hospital, stating that the operation targeted a senior Hamas militant and members of the group's armed wing operating inside the complex. In a statement, the military alleged that Hamas was using the hospital grounds as a command-and-control center, weapons storage site, observation post, and shelter for fighters—claims that could not be independently verified.
A Hamas spokesperson condemned the strike as a "fully-fledged war crime" and accused Israel of attempting to undermine the year-old ceasefire agreement.
The attack comes amid a renewed wave of Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, which Israel maintains are aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping and replenishing its weapons stockpiles. Earlier in the week, separate strikes in Gaza City killed at least seven Palestinians.
According to Gaza health authorities, at least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire agreement took effect in October 2025, while Israel reports that four of its soldiers have died during the same period.
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