Israeli strike on Nasser hospital kills surgeon Rizk Abu Shaira and five others

An Israeli airstrike early Thursday killed six people, including surgeon Rizk Abu Shaira, when it hit the surgical building at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Gaza's health ministry said. Israel's military said a Hamas commander was the target.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The dead included a 13-year-old boy and at least one other patient, the ministry said. Abu Shaira, a 52-year-old general surgeon, died alongside a patient he had operated on.

Hospital director Ahmed al-Fara put the number of wounded at 28. Gaza's health ministry counted about 20 injured, while the territory's civil defense service put the figure above 20.

Israel's military said it struck Muhammad Abu Ismail, whom it identified as commander of Hamas's Khan Younis Brigade, and other fighters inside the hospital. The military offered no evidence for that account, and the identified commander was not among the dead, The Associated Press reported.

"No one's safe here," al-Fara said in English.

Patients and staff describe the strike

Seif Ghazi Abu Hatab, 29, was one of the patients killed. He had entered the hospital Monday after debris fell on his back as he helped clear rubble from a friend's home. His surgery was scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, and he was supposed to receive more treatment abroad.

Witnesses placed the strike at about 12:30 a.m. According to al-Fara, Israeli forces launched two missiles at the al-Yasin surgery building; one detonated. News agencies published images that appeared to show an unexploded missile, the BBC reported.

British volunteer surgeon Goher Rahbour had worked alongside Abu Shaira in the operating room hours earlier. Rahbour told The Associated Press he was on the surgical department's fourth floor, where the strike reduced the recovery area to rubble. "It was extremely smoky," he said.

"The bombing caused thick smoke to fill the rooms and fires to break out, amid the groans of wounded and people's screams," wounded surgical specialist Dr. Ayman Abu Ubaid told The Guardian.

Dr. Mohammed Qdeih, who was wounded and specializes in general surgery, told the BBC, "My whole body was trapped under the rubble. For a moment, I felt as if I was about to lose consciousness, or that I was about to die."

Qdeih said patients in the rooms beside his were killed. "A patient comes to the hospital seeking treatment and leaves carried on people's shoulders. I do not know what kind of humanity this is."

Footage showed wrecked or badly damaged wards and operating rooms, debris strewn over beds and equipment, and rebar dangling through ceiling holes.

Dispute over warnings

The Israeli military said it gave advance warnings and released an audio recording it described as a warning to a senior Gaza health official. Al-Fara said the hospital got no warning.

The military said Hamas fighters had made the compound a headquarters from which to advance attacks against Israeli forces. It and the Israel Security Agency said Hamas stored weapons, conducted interrogations and operated command-and-control rooms at the hospital.

The two agencies shared photos of weapons they said were found there. They said measures to reduce harm to civilians included precision munitions and aerial surveillance.

Hamas called the strike a war crime and Israel's allegations lies, saying the accusations were "a blatant attempt to justify a documented crime targeting a civilian medical facility whose function and purpose are well known."

Tahani Ibrahim Abu Anza told NBC News her brother, Khaled Abu Anza, 53, died while receiving physical therapy at the hospital after surgery. "He did not come to the hospital to engage in combat or resistance. He came for medical treatment," she said.

NBC News cited outlets including Israel's Ynet as reporting that a Hamas Khan Younis Brigade commander named Khaled Abu Anza was killed in the strike. When asked to confirm that account, the Israeli military said it would get back on the matter.

It was not immediately clear whether Abu Ismail had been at the hospital or had suffered injuries, or whether Khaled Abu Anza was a Hamas commander.

Strikes during the ceasefire

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.

Nasser serves almost one million people and is southern Gaza's largest hospital. Al-Fara said the hospital has been struck seven times during the war.

An Israeli double strike at Nasser in August 2025 killed 22 people, five of them journalists.

Israeli strikes have continued despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect in October 2025. Gaza's health ministry says more than 1,600 people have been killed in the territory since the ceasefire began.

Israel intensified its actions against Hamas a few months after the ceasefire, saying the group had declined to disarm, The Jerusalem Post wrote. Israel held back from a full invasion because the Trump administration objected, the Post wrote.

International humanitarian law protects hospitals, although they can lose that protection if used for military purposes. The Post assessed that international law permits Israel to target a military official at a hospital. It also said the strike raises broader questions about international legitimacy, as the October 2025 ceasefire technically remains in effect.

Medical Aid for Palestinians, which supports several Nasser departments, called the attack "yet another indication that the so-called 'ceasefire' has brought neither safety nor an end to Israel's attacks on Gaza's healthcare system."

Gaza-based political analyst Ahmed al-Tanani told Al Jazeera the strike sends a message that "there is no possibility of life and no possibility of recovery in the Gaza Strip." He said Israel has "gradually broken down its barriers" since the ceasefire began.

Al-Fara said four departments suspended services: radiology, laboratories, surgical operations and inpatient surgical wards. Nearby facilities cannot carry out Nasser's specialized surgeries, he said, leaving patients to "face an unknown fate." He said the hospital lacks about 80% of its essential medicines and medical supplies.

The Israeli military said it is examining reports that medical workers, including Abu Shaira, and patients were killed.