KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza early Thursday, killing six Palestinians—including a surgeon—and wounding more than 20 others, according to Gaza’s civil defense service and hospital officials.
The strike targeted the second floor of the Al-Yasin building inside the complex in western Khan Younis, striking the facility's surgery department. According to the hospital's director, the blast inflicted extensive structural damage on both the surgical and intensive care wards.
Medical personnel identified the slain surgeon as Rezik Abushira. Hospital officials stated that the remaining dead and wounded were medical staff and patients, including several individuals who had been scheduled to undergo operations later in the day.
Video footage from inside the facility showed collapsed ceiling panels, dangling electrical wires, and furniture and rubble strewn across hospital rooms. In the immediate aftermath, emergency responders and bystanders carried injured patients on stretchers through debris-strewn corridors while assisting other wounded survivors out of the damaged wards.
Israeli Army Radio described the strike as an "assassination operation," though it did not release specific details regarding the intended target. When reached for comment by international news agencies, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said officials were looking into the reports.
The attack comes amid heightened friction over a fragile ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025 following two years of conflict. Both Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused one another of violating the truce. Israel has maintained that its recent operations are aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping and rebuilding its arsenal, while Hamas has accused Israeli forces of attempting to undermine the agreement.
According to Gaza’s health authorities, more than 1,600 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,800 wounded in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began in October 2025, bringing the overall death toll in the territory since October 2023 to more than 74,600. During the same post-ceasefire period, the Israeli military has reported the deaths of seven soldiers and one civilian contractor.
Published by Banx Network. This article is part of the Banx decentralized media programme, powered by the BXE token on the XRP Ledger.
