Strike on Gaza hospital kills at least 6 and injures 20, rescuers say

An Israeli military strike on a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least six people and injured more than 20, according to a statement early Thursday from the Civil Defense, Gaza’s rescue service.

The overnight strike hit a Nasser Hospital building in the city of Khan Younis, Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip, said in the statement.

The Israeli military, in response to a request for comment, said it would “soon” have information.

The attack on the hospital comes more than a year into a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that has not brought an end to Israeli military strikes in Gaza, and has done little to alleviate the dire and deadly living conditions for the enclave’s 2 million residents.

Shortly after midnight, at least two missiles hit the roof of a four-story building in the hospital complex, penetrating the third floor and exploding on the second floor in the surgery department, Naseem Hassan, a paramedic and ambulance driver who works at Nasser Hospital, said by telephone.

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A surgeon, Dr. Rezeq Abu Shaira, Gov. Khaled Abu Anzeh of Khan Younis, some of his guards and a disabled patient were among the dead. The injured included doctors, nurses and patients, Hassan said.

The strike was the first on Nasser Hospital since the ceasefire went into effect in October last year. More than 1,600 people have been killed by Israeli fire during the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its death tolls.

But Nasser Hospital had been struck by the Israeli military multiple times since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, prompted a devastating Israeli military response in Gaza. More than 74,000 people have been killed in the war, according to the Health Ministry.

In August last year, 20 people — including medical staff, rescue workers, patients and journalists — were killed in a strike on the hospital that drew a rare admission of error from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who called it a “tragic mishap.”