Israeli strike hits Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, killing at least six
At least six people have been killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a building at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, according to a civil defence official in the territory. The strike hit the surgery department of the hospital in Khan Younis and wounded at least 20 people, with extensive damage reported. A surgeon is reported to be among those killed in the early Thursday attack.
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Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run civil defence agency, gave the casualty figures and said recovery work was under way at the hospital. There has been no immediate response from the Israeli military. The BBC said it had contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment and noted that it is unable to independently verify details from inside Gaza.
The hospital is the largest in southern Gaza and has been struck before. In August 2025, it was hit by a double Israeli strike that killed at least 20 people, including journalists and health workers. The latest attack adds to pressure on Gaza's already strained medical system, where hospitals have repeatedly been damaged during the conflict.
The strike comes amid continuing Israeli attacks on Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October last year. More than 1,600 people have been killed since then, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, keeping the truce under strain.
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The wider war began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Since then, Gaza's health ministry says more than 74,645 people have been killed in the territory. The humanitarian situation has also worsened because of recent heavy rains, which reportedly flooded tens of thousands of tents sheltering displaced families.
What remains unclear is the full scale of the damage inside the hospital and whether there were any further casualties beyond those already reported. It is also not yet clear how the Israeli military will respond to the allegations or whether the strike will affect the fragile ceasefire framework. The incident is likely to intensify scrutiny of attacks on medical facilities in the conflict and of the protection of civilians in southern Gaza.
