Israeli strike hits Gaza hospital, killing at least five

An Israeli airstrike hit Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza early Thursday, killing at least five Palestinians and wounding 20 others, a Gaza civil defence official told the BBC. Al Jazeera reported six deaths, citing Gaza’s health ministry and civil defence.

The strike hit a building housing surgical wards and intensive care units at the hospital in Khan Younis. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that a single missile struck after a warplane briefly flew overhead. A surgeon was reported among the dead, the BBC said. Al Jazeera reported that most of those killed or wounded were patients, including some scheduled for surgery the following day.

The Israeli military said it targeted a senior Hamas member and other militants who were using the hospital “as a command center for military and terrorist activities.” In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency said they used precision munitions and aerial surveillance to reduce harm to civilians. They condemned what they described as Hamas’s use of civilian and medical facilities for military purposes.

Hamas condemned the strike as a “war crime.” In a statement reported by Al Jazeera, it called on mediators and the United States to take action to halt what it called Israel’s violations and ensure its adherence to the ceasefire. The BBC reported that Hamas denies Israel’s accusation that it uses hospitals for military purposes. Hospitals have protected status under international law.

The director of Nasser Medical Complex said the strike caused extensive damage to intensive care and surgical departments. Videos shared by activists showed smoke inside the building and damaged equipment and beds on its second floor, according to the BBC. The broadcaster said Israel prevents it from reporting independently inside Gaza and that it could not verify details of the incident.

Al Jazeera reported that Israeli attacks killed seven other Palestinians across Gaza before the hospital strike, bringing the toll it reported across the territory to at least 13. Those attacks included a strike on a tent sheltering displaced people in northern Gaza that killed at least two, the outlet said.

Heavy rain has also affected Gaza. At least 70,000 tents were flooded over the weekend, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office, as cited by Al Jazeera. UNICEF said the rain directly affected at least 106,000 people in recent days. The United Nations appealed for more waterproof tents, and its deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said Israeli permission was needed to bring them in.

Israeli strikes have continued despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October 2025, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violations. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 1,600 people have been killed since the agreement, according to the BBC. The outlets cited slightly different ministry death tolls since the war began: more than 74,645 in the BBC’s report and 74,653 in Al Jazeera’s. The war began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.