An Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least six people overnight, according to Gaza health officials and civil defence, as Israel said it had targeted a Hamas commander. The Nasser Hospital Gaza strike has drawn condemnation from Hamas, which called it a war crime.
According to NBC News, the strike hit a surgery building at the hospital and killed at least six people, including medical staff and patients. The Palestinian health ministry said so on Thursday. Among the dead was Palestinian surgeon Dr. Rizk Abu Shaira, according to the ministry. NBC News reported that he was featured in the 2026 documentary ‘American Doctor’.
Gaza’s civil defence agency gave a different detail to Dawn, saying the death toll from the strike inside the Nasser Medical Complex, west of Khan Younis, had risen to six, with more than 20 people wounded.
The Israeli military and the Israel Security Agency said they struck a senior Hamas member and other militants who had carried out "advanced" attacks from the hospital. According to NBC News, they named the man as Muhammad Abu Ismail, commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade. Israel’s military has also released photos of weapons it says were found in the hospital. Those photos have not been independently verified in the sources available.
Hamas rejected the allegations. According to NBC News, it called the claim that it used the hospital for military operations "lies of the criminal enemy." Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem, quoted by Dawn, held the US-backed Board of Peace, which oversees Gaza’s ceasefire plan, responsible for failing to prevent the strike. No response to the strike from the United States or the Board of Peace was reported.
Separately, civil defence said a seventh person was killed by Israeli fire in the Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza on Thursday, according to Dawn. Israel’s military said it was looking into that death. The cause of the death beyond the military’s review has not been confirmed.
The hospital has been hit before. According to NBC News, Nasser Hospital was struck in August 2025 by a double-tap Israeli strike that killed at least 20 people. NBC News also cited World Health Organization data showing that of Gaza’s 37 hospitals, 2 are fully functioning, 18 are partially functioning and 17 are non-functioning.
NBC News, citing the Palestinian health ministry, reported that more than 1,600 people have been killed since the October ceasefire. Dawn, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health, put the figure at more than 1,590. The two figures are not dated to the same point and have not been reconciled.
The two outlets also disagree on Israeli casualties since the truce. NBC News says Israel reports four of its soldiers killed since the ceasefire began. Dawn says the Israeli military reported the loss of seven soldiers and one civilian contractor over the same period.
Israel says it is looking into reports that medical workers and patients were killed, but no findings have been reported. The Israeli military’s findings, and the status of the ceasefire, which both sides accuse each other of violating, remain open.
NBC News and Dawn are the only full reports available for this story, and no independent third source confirms the death toll or the identity of the Hamas commander.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.