An overnight Israeli air strike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza resulted in the deaths of at least six Palestinians on Thursday, according to medical officials. The victims included a surgeon and a teenage boy. The attack represents the latest series of operations by the Israeli military that have tested the durability of the ceasefire established one year ago in the conflict zone.
The missile strike targeted a five-storey building housing surgery wards within the hospital complex in Khan Younis. Israel's military announced that the operation aimed to eliminate a senior Hamas commander. Officials alleged that militants were using the hospital grounds to plan attacks, a claim that the Hamas movement subsequently denied.
Witnesses and medical staff reported that two missiles penetrated the roof of the structure, causing extensive structural damage. The surgery department, which provides care to approximately half of Gaza's population of two million, was forced to close. In addition to the fatalities, twenty individuals sustained injuries in the blast.
Ayman Abu Obeid, a doctor who was treated for wounds sustained in the attack, described the moment of impact. He was on an overnight shift in a room where staff were resting when the explosion occurred. Speaking from a hospital bed, he recalled the sudden darkness and chaos, noting that mangled furniture and dust-covered medical equipment surrounded him as torn wires hung from the ceiling.
Among the confirmed dead was Rezik Abushira, a surgeon who appeared in a 2026 documentary titled American Doctor. The film showed him working with three visiting American physicians to provide medical support to Palestinians. Gaza's education ministry also confirmed the death of a 13-year-old boy in the same incident.
Three additional Palestinians were killed later in the day in separate events. An Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Gaza City killed two people and wounded others, while a third person was shot dead in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. These incidents raised the total death toll for Thursday to at least nine. The Israeli military stated that the vehicle strike targeted a Hamas militant but provided no further details on the other incident.
In a formal statement, the Israeli military identified the target of the hospital strike as Muhammad Abu Ismail, described as the commander of the Hamas Khan Younis Brigade. The military claimed that Abu Ismail and other fighters were hiding within the Nasser Hospital compound, which they accused them of converting into an operational headquarters. Hamas rejected the narrative that the hospital served as a military base, though it did not immediately clarify the status of the targeted leader.
Hospital officials noted that the Nasser complex has been struck at least seven times since the beginning of the war. The recent attack occurred amidst worsening weather conditions that have severely affected the displaced population. Heavy rainfall earlier in the week flooded tens of thousands of tents, leading to the death of five people, including three children, when a sandy embankment collapsed onto their shelters.
The deteriorating weather has continued to take a heavy toll on vulnerable residents. On Thursday, a nine-month-old baby named Kinan Ahmed Raqiq died from hypothermia inside his family's displacement tent in Khan Younis. His father, Ahmed Raqiq, stated that he woke to find his son's skin had turned blue. Despite rushing the infant to Nasser Hospital, the child had already passed away from the cold. His father described the scene of holding his son wrapped in a white burial shroud as a moment of complete shock.
James Elder, the UNICEF spokesman for Gaza, warned that the current flooding and cold are precursors to the full winter season. He emphasized that the region is weeks away from winter and is already experiencing unprecedented rain and cold. According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 26,000 households were affected by storms as of November 8. Approximately 65 percent of Gaza's population remains displaced in temporary shelters. The current crisis unfolds against the backdrop of the ceasefire declared on October 10, 2025, a truce that has been strained by continued Israeli strikes aimed at those involved in the October 7 attack.
