Israeli Strike on Gaza's Nasser Hospital Kills at Least Six, Including a Surgeon, as the Army Alleges a Command Post
The overnight strike hit the surgery department of the Khan Younis complex, wounding about 20; Hamas calls it a war crime, and the military says the site housed a command post, a claim not independently verified.
Thursday, November 12, 2026/2 min read
An Israeli air strike hit the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the early hours of Thursday, killing at least six people, including a surgeon, and wounding about 20 others, according to The National. The Israeli military said it struck the hospital overnight because Hamas was using it as a command centre. That claim has not been independently verified, and Hamas rejects it.
The strike lands on a ceasefire that has been in place since October 2025 but has never stopped the killing. It also comes as Gaza's displaced families deal with their first heavy rains of the winter.
What happened at Nasser Hospital?
Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal said the strike hit the surgery department on the second floor of the Al Yasin building, causing extensive damage, per The National. Reuters images showed collapsed ceilings, dangling cables and rubble. Health officials named the dead surgeon as Dr Rezik Abushira, a name Al Jazeera renders as Rizk Abu Shaira. Al Jazeera reported that most of those killed and wounded were patients, including people scheduled for surgery, that the intensive care unit was also damaged, and that the hospital's director, Raed al-Dahshan, expected the toll to rise.
Al Jazeera put the number killed across Gaza in the same period at 13. Figures from a developing attack like this are provisional and come from Gaza's health ministry and civil defence, which Israel does not endorse.
What does Israel say about the target?
Israeli military spokeswoman Lt Col Ella Waweya said on X that the army had struck the hospital overnight and that the site was being used as a Hamas military command centre, according to The National. Hamas called the strike a war crime and, per Al Jazeera, described the claim as a cover-up. No evidence for either account has been published, and neither party has produced an independent inspection. Al Jazeera's correspondent said this was the seventh Israeli strike on the complex in about two years.
How fragile is the Gaza ceasefire now?
Gaza's health officials say at least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the US-brokered truce began, while Israel says four of its soldiers have died in the same period, The National reported. Talks have stalled over Hamas's disarmament and an Israeli withdrawal, and Israel controls about two-thirds of the territory.
The humanitarian picture is worsening in parallel. Following the first winter storm we reported on Tuesday, Gaza's government media office says at least 70,000 tents have been flooded, and UNICEF says at least 106,000 people have been directly affected, per Al Jazeera. The UN says waterproof tents need Israeli permits, and its humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher has said it is not acceptable for some countries to delay winter aid until Israel has a new government. The next signal will be the final casualty count at Nasser, and whether any inquiry is opened.
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