Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis kills at least five people, including a surgeon, medics say
An Israeli airstrike hit a building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, early on Thursday, killing at least five people, including a surgeon, and wounding 20, Gaza's civil defence told Reuters. Al Jazeera put the toll at six dead after the hospital updated its count. The strike hit the hospital's surgery department and damaged its intensive care and surgical wards, the reports say. The Israeli military had not commented when Reuters reported the strike; Sweden's TT agency later reported a military spokesman saying the army was seeking information about the incident.
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Key points
- A strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis early on Thursday hit the surgery department and damaged the intensive care and surgical wards.
- At least five people were killed, including a surgeon, Gaza's civil defence told Reuters; Al Jazeera puts the toll at six — the total is disputed.
- Twenty people were wounded on Reuters' count; Al Jazeera reports more than 20 injured, including patients and medical staff.
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- The Israeli military had not commented to Reuters; a spokesman later told TT the army was seeking information about the incident.
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Video: Al Jazeera English · Watch on YouTube
What happened
The strike is a distinct event from Wednesday's attacks across Gaza, which killed at least five people including two brothers in a tent in Sheikh Radwan. Nasser Hospital is the largest medical complex in southern Gaza and, on Al Jazeera's reporting, the only hospital still working in Khan Younis. Strikes on medical facilities have been among the most contested episodes of the war: Israel has repeatedly said Hamas operates from hospitals, which Hamas denies.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That an airstrike hit a building at Nasser Hospital early on Thursday, damaging the surgery department and the intensive care and surgical wards.
- That a surgeon was among the dead, named by medics, and that patients and medical staff were among the casualties.
- That the Israeli military's first reported position was that it was seeking information about the incident.
What we don't know yet
- The settled toll — Reuters reports at least five killed, Al Jazeera six, and the counts have not been reconciled.
- What the Israeli military says it was targeting — no account of the strike's target has been published.
- How badly the hospital's services are affected, and whether surgery has resumed.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (5)
Why this label: Reuters' report from Gaza's civil defence and medics, and Al Jazeera's reporting from Gaza, agree on the strike, the building and the wards damaged.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Two reports citing the same civil defence and hospital sources give different totals — at least five killed (Reuters) against six (Al Jazeera, also reported by Sweden's TT agency). Neither total is carried here as settled.
On the ladder: credible sources conflict, so we show both workings. One side's own statement is that side's position — never proof.
Why this label: The absence of a comment is Reuters'; the spokesman's later position — that the military was seeking information — is TT's report of his words.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The hospital's role and the patients awaiting surgery are Al Jazeera's reporting from Gaza; the figure is attributed to its report.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The running toll and each side's position are reported by Reuters, with the toll attributed to Gaza's health officials and the positions carried as each side's own words.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
A hospital is where the wounded from every other strike are taken. An attack on the only working hospital in Khan Younis — with patients waiting for surgery among the casualties — tests both the ceasefire and the protection hospitals are supposed to have, and it leaves southern Gaza's half a million people with a damaged centre for care.
Background
A ceasefire takes effect in Gaza; near-daily strikes continue, and Gaza's health officials put the number killed since it began at more than 1,600.
Israeli attacks kill at least five people across Gaza on Wednesday, including two brothers in a tent in Sheikh Radwan.
An airstrike hits a building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, killing at least five people including a surgeon.
Update history
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- Latest
Published in Checking state — the strike on the hospital is confirmed by two reports, and the toll is disputed between them.