An Israeli airstrike on a building at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least six people, including a surgeon, and wounded 20 others early on Thursday, 12 November, a spokesman for Gaza's civil defence service told Reuters.

The strike hit the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, one of the largest hospitals still functioning in the southern Gaza Strip. Medics identified the dead surgeon as Rezik Abushira. Gaza's civil defence spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, gave the casualty figures to Reuters and to Agence France-Presse, and the hospital confirmed six deaths in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, and an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP it was checking information about the incident.

Damage inside the hospital

Video from inside the hospital showed extensive damage, with rubble and furniture strewn across rooms and wires dangling from damaged ceilings. People carried injured patients on stretchers through debris-covered corridors, while others helped the wounded walk through the wreckage. Several bodies were seen being carried away as firefighters worked outside.

A Hamas spokesperson described the strike as a "fully fledged war crime". Israel, which has stepped up its attacks on the enclave, says Hamas is trying to regroup and rebuild its arsenal. Hamas says it is committed to the ceasefire agreed a year ago and accuses Israel of trying to undermine the agreement.

Ceasefire under strain

The strike came as the ceasefire that took effect in October 2025 continued to fray. At least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since the deal was agreed, according to the territory's health officials, while Israel says four soldiers have been killed.

Gaza's health authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed since Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023. Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led gunmen carried out an attack on southern Israel in which, according to Israel, about 1,200 people were killed.

The hospital strike was not the only deadly incident reported on Thursday. An Israeli drone strike killed a Palestinian man and wounded several others in southern Gaza after hitting a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, according to Al Jazeera. The body of Tamer al-Hamayda, 42, and three wounded people were brought to Nasser Medical Complex.

Gaza's Health Ministry reported eight new deaths and 26 wounded over the past 24 hours. Israeli forces also carried out a large-scale demolition operation targeting buildings east of Gaza City's al-Tuffah neighbourhood, and in the occupied West Bank Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian man during a raid on the village of Yasuf, north of Ramallah.

Nasser Hospital serves as a critical lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people across southern Gaza. Each strike on a medical facility narrows the care available to the wounded and the sick, and Thursday's attack will add to questions about how the ceasefire can hold when hospitals are still being hit.

Sources: Reuters via The Business Standard and Okay News.