Israeli air strike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital kills six Palestinians

An Israeli airstrike on a hospital has killed six Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The attack happened on the Nasser Medical Complex that is west of Han Yunis. The Gaza civil defense says several patients and doctors have been injured. The strike caused extensive damage to the hospital's intensive care and surgical wards. This is the seventh, the seventh reported attack on that hospital. All right, Hind Hudry joins us now live on the phone. She's in Gaza City. Okay. Hind, I know that this is breaking news within the last hour or so. Bring us up to speed on what you know at this stage. Okay, so we just got a statement from the civil defense team. They said that they completed their operations at the site following the incident after the airstrike that targeted a monster hospital. The search and inspection operations have been finished. The death toll is six Palestinians that were killed inside the hospital. And we're talking about more than 20 that have been injured, including the medical staff and patients. And what was targeted was the second floor of... The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, this is one of the biggest, it's actually the only standing hospital in Khan Yunis serving at least 500,000. People in the southern parts of the Gaza Strip. Now, what else we need to know is most of those who were killed and also injured are patients and people who were going to undergo a surgery tomorrow. They're sleeping inside the hospital because they're supposed to wake up on a surgery where they have been waiting for so long, for a lot of days, until they were... It was time for them on the list to undergo these surgeries. Now, what else we heard from the locals and eyewitnesses is the explosion was a sudden. There was no warning. There was no evacuation notice. So the Israeli forces targeted the hospital without any warning. And this is something that is actually usual. Sure, we're talking about... Time, the same exact hospital has been targeted since the past couple of years. Let me also tell you that one of the biggest attack was on the August 25th, 2025, where The hospital was bombed twice, and at least 22 Palestinians were killed. Among them was at least four journalists. So this hospital has been targeted over and over again. Thank Most of those incidents were without any—actually, all of the incidents were without any— Were without any warning. Were without any warning. And this is something I really want to stress on because there are a lot you. of incidents where the Israeli forces actually issue an evacuation notice or issue a warning telling people that they are going to target a place or a location or a neighborhood, but when they target hospitals, they do not give any prior notice. Yeah, and it's worth repeating some of what you said. That's six dead. Inside of that hospital, the only hospital still standing in Khan Younis, obviously a lifeline to those half a million people that you mentioned there. I'm going to stop there. You've covered this before, as you said, this is the seventh time that this hospital has been targeted. As you said, no. Prior warning given in those instances, but I wonder about official explanations, whether there's been one in this case or in the last six instances that this has happened. Has there been an official explanation from the Israelis? Well, it's the same exact official explanation they have been using for the past three years. We heard an official explanation. When Al-Shifa hospital has been raided, we heard an official statement on a hospital when dozens of people were killed. And that... The justification for attacking hospitals is that Hamas is using hospitals as the military base, but we are seeing those people who are killed, they're actually patients that are undergoing a surgery on the next day. A doctor who is serving in the middle of the night with very minimum resources, This is with... Actually, nothing, trying to save lives as much as possible. It's the same justification, but there's no proof that this is what's going on. Now, another thing we need to know is the fact that hospitals have been also a displacement place for a lot of people who have been homeless in the past. A couple of years where hospitals are not only hospitals, but they're also a house. There are also a place where people are actually residing and seeking shelter. So, it's... What people believe that hospitals are supposed to be safe and we heard this from one of the people who were inside the hospital just right now. They said that hospitals are supposed to be safe and we're supposed to be in a ceasefire. So as I mentioned before, the Israeli forces continue to violate the ceasefire and also continue to violate... Sorry, I'm late. Everything that has been written in that agreement and they continue to violate those agreements and also violate the Palestinians every single day. Yeah. Again, worth repeating what you've pointed out, Hind, that we are in the midst of a ceasefire here. So for whatever the explanation is, this is supposed to be a ceasefire in Gaza there. All right. Al Jazeera's Hind Hootary live for us in Gaza City on the phone, talking about this attack on the hospital in Khan Younis. Hind, thank you, as always. Excellent reporting.