At least six people were killed and many more injured in an Israeli air strike on Nasser Hospital — the largest hospital in the southern Gaza Strip.
This was reported by the territory’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas, the BBC writes.
Witnesses said a single missile fired from a military aircraft hit a building housing surgical wards and the intensive care unit overnight.
Medical staff, patients and their companions were killed.
The Israeli military, for its part, said it had struck a senior Hamas figure and other operatives from the group’s armed wing who were operating in the hospital and using the medical facility as a “command centre for military and terrorist activity”.
Under international law, hospitals have protected status, but during the war in Gaza they have repeatedly come under attack.
Israel accuses Hamas — which retains security control over those parts of Gaza not occupied by Israeli forces — of using civilian infrastructure. Israel says the group stores weapons and positions command posts in hospitals. Hamas denies this.
- In August 2025, Nasser Hospital was hit by a double strike by Israel, killing at least 20 people, including journalists and medical workers.
- Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip have continued despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October last year.
- According to the territory’s health ministry — whose figures the UN considers credible — more than 1,620 people have been killed since then.
- Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.
- The UN World Food Programme, due to funding cuts, has stopped supporting half a million Palestinians in Gaza. 200,000 people are at risk of starvation.