KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza – At least six Palestinians, including a surgeon, were killed and 20 others wounded early on Thursday when an Israeli airstrike hit a building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to Gaza’s civil defence service.
Civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said the strike hit the hospital’s surgery department and caused extensive damage. Medics identified the dead surgeon as Rezik Abushira. Nasser Hospital confirmed the six deaths in a statement. Rescuers and firefighters were seen working at the site as bodies were carried away.
Nasser Hospital is the largest medical facility in southern Gaza and a lifeline for a population that has endured years of war. Hospitals and medical staff are protected under international humanitarian law.
A Hamas spokesperson condemned the attack as a “fully fledged war crime”. Hamas has said it remains committed to the ceasefire and accuses Israel of trying to undermine it. HTN World has not independently verified the casualty figures or the circumstances of the strike.
A ceasefire under pressure
The strike came a year after a ceasefire took effect in October 2025. Israel and Hamas have accused each other of breaching it. Israel, which has stepped up its attacks, says Hamas is trying to regroup and rebuild its arsenal.
Gaza health officials say at least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the truce was agreed. Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed in the same period. The civil defence agency and the health ministry operate under Hamas authority, and these figures could not be independently verified.
Separately, Basal said another person was killed by Israeli fire in the Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza on Thursday.
Repeated attacks on Nasser Hospital
Nasser Hospital has been struck before. A double Israeli strike in August 2025 killed at least 20 people, including journalists and health workers, according to Al Jazeera. Reports from earlier in 2025 also described strikes on the hospital that killed three people in June and two in March, the latter on its surgical unit.
