An Israeli airstrike hit a building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, early on Thursday, November 12, a spokesman for Gaza's civil defence service told Reuters. The strike hit the hospital's surgery department, causing extensive damage, spokesman Mahmoud Basal said. The hospital is the main medical facility in southern Gaza and, according to Al Jazeera, the only hospital still operating in Khan Younis, serving an estimated 500,000 people.

Source: Reuters, Nov 12, 2026

6people killed, the toll given by Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal to AFP after it rose through the night; Nasser Hospital confirmed six deaths in a statement
20+people wounded, according to the Civil Defence and the hospital
2nd floorof the Al-Yasin building inside the complex, where the strike hit the surgery department
1,622Palestinians the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says have been killed since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025 — a figure that does not distinguish combatants from civilians and has not been independently verified

The toll rose through the night

Reuters and Anadolu first reported four dead; Reuters then reported at least five killed, including a surgeon, and 20 wounded. Basal later told AFP: 'The death toll from the Israeli strike inside Nasser Medical Complex, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, has risen to six,' and Nasser Hospital confirmed six deaths in a statement, AFP reported. Medics identified the dead surgeon as Rezik Abushira, according to Reuters. Basal said casualties were severe among medical staff, patients and displaced families sheltering inside the complex, and Middle East Eye reported that some of the patients hit were due for surgery the following day. The Times of Israel, citing Al Jazeera, reported the strike had forced the hospital to halt operations in its surgical ward; the hospital has not published its statement in full.

Source: AFP, Nov 12, 2026

Israel has not confirmed the strike

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military to Reuters, and a military spokesperson told AFP they were checking for information on the incident; the military has not confirmed that it carried out the strike or said what it was targeting. Anadolu Agency and Middle East Eye reported that Israeli Army Radio described the strike as an 'assassination operation' — a claim carried by those outlets that Israeli officials have not publicly confirmed and that Awaaz Punjab could not independently verify. Israel says Hamas is trying to regroup and refill its arsenal, Reuters reported; Hamas says it is committed to the ceasefire agreement and accuses Israel of trying to undermine it.

Source: Reuters / AFP reports, Nov 12, 2026

A hospital hit repeatedly through the war

Nasser Hospital has been struck repeatedly during the war. In March 2025, a strike on its surgery department killed Ismail Barhoum, a Hamas political leader who was being treated there; Israel said it had targeted a key Hamas figure. In August 2025, a double strike on the hospital killed at least 20 people, including five journalists and four health workers, according to the director-general of the World Health Organization; Israel said it had been targeting a Hamas camera. Al Jazeera described Thursday's attack as the seventh reported Israeli strike on the medical complex.

Source: Reuters / AFP background via UK Fact Check, Nov 12, 2026

Thursday's hospital strike came a day after Israeli strikes on Gaza City killed three people, including two brothers, in the Sheikh Radwan area — Wednesday's attacks, and the ceasefire toll behind them, were covered as they were reported. That story is linked here. Read Wednesday's Gaza City strikes story

What is solid

  • An Israeli strike hit a building at the Nasser Medical Complex in western Khan Younis early on Thursday, damaging the surgery department and the intensive care and surgical wards — reported by Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera, citing Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal and the hospital
  • The Israeli military had not confirmed the strike or named a target; it gave Reuters no immediate comment and told AFP it was checking for information
  • The ceasefire both sides accuse each other of breaching took effect on October 10, 2025, and Israeli strikes in Gaza have continued through it

What is only claimed

  • The casualty figures — six killed and more than 20 wounded — come solely from Gaza's Civil Defence, a rescue agency under the Hamas-run administration, and from Nasser Hospital itself; no independent count exists, and the toll rose from four to six across the night's reporting
  • Israeli Army Radio's reported description of the strike as an 'assassination operation', carried by Anadolu and Middle East Eye, which Israeli officials have not publicly confirmed
  • The wider ceasefire toll: Gaza health officials say at least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire (the Health Ministry's figure is 1,622 killed and 5,878 injured), while Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed in the same period, according to Reuters

What happens next

The immediate question is whether the hospital's surgical ward — in the main medical facility for southern Gaza — can resume operating, and whether Israel's military confirms the strike and states what it says it was targeting. The strike also lands in a week of mounting ceasefire strain: local emergency services told AFP that Israeli strikes killed seven people on Tuesday, Israel said it had targeted 'military operatives', and Anadolu reported five more killed in Gaza City and Bureij on Wednesday. Britain condemned the August 2025 double strike on the same hospital as 'completely indefensible'; the UK government had not yet commented on Thursday's strike as the wires closed. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when the Israeli military responds or the hospital publishes its full statement.

Source: AFP, Nov 12, 2026