Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Gaza kills six, disables key medical departments

At 12:45 a.m. on Thursday, November 12, an Israeli airstrike struck Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, killing six people, including a child, medical staff, and patients, and the head of internal security in Khan Younis, who was receiving treatment at the hospital at that time, according to his family. The airstrike destroyed the hospital’s surgical department, effectively bringing several other essential departments to a halt, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Dr. Ahmad al-Farra, director of Nasser Medical Complex, said that two missiles struck the hospital. One exploded, while the other failed to detonate. Had the second missile exploded, it could have caused an even greater number of casualties, he said. According to the Ministry of Health, more than 28 people were injured inside the targeted department. Umm Ahmad Abu Anza said her brother had recently undergone surgery for a herniated disc in his back, so he needed to visit the hospital that day for follow-up medical procedures and physical therapy.

Instead, Khaled Abu Anza, 53, was killed inside the hospital. “When we heard that Nasser Hospital had been targeted, the news filled us with anxiety. I knew my brother had gone there to receive treatment. We tried contacting journalists and staff inside the hospital, but we couldn’t reach anyone. We waited for news until I eventually heard that my brother had been killed,” Umm Ahmad told Mondoweiss . Witnesses and medical staff who survived the bombing described the destruction from inside the surgical department as severe, with damage extending to the radiology and laboratory departments.

The hospital’s elevators stopped functioning, according to hospital officials, further paralyzing its operations. The destruction has dealt another severe blow to a medical facility already struggling with shortages of medical supplies, equipment, and fuel. Speaking at a press conference outside the hospital, al-Farra said the strike was part of a long pattern of attacks on Nasser Medical Complex. “It was the seventh time the hospital had been targeted since the beginning of the war,” he said.

The Israeli military has a long record of targeting and invading hospitals and medical centers, as well as killing journalists inside hospital facilities, including the killing of journalist Hassan Eslaih inside one of the hospital’s departments. “This was a treacherous and surprise attack,” al-Farra said during the press conference. “Contrary to what the occupation claims about issuing warnings, neither the hospital administration nor anyone else was warned.

The bombing happened suddenly, without any prior notice.” Al-Farra said the attack came at a time when the hospital administration and the Ministry of Health were already struggling to secure even the most basic medical supplies, including intravenous solutions, injections, and syringes, to treat incoming patients and those already receiving care. “While we are trying to provide patients with the simplest medical necessities, the occupation insists on destroying the healthcare system.

It bombards and destroys the Yassin building, which is the backbone of Nasser Medical Complex,” he said. Dr. Muhammad Qadih, one of the doctors on duty during the attack, was himself injured and is now receiving treatment. He recalled that the hospital had been operating normally, with several patients inside the surgical department, when the bombing suddenly struck. “All of a sudden, we found ourselves beneath the rubble,” Qadih said.

“I was buried under the debris until my colleagues and other rescuers arrived and pulled me out. They carried me down from the upper floor to the emergency department below, where I received treatment and survived.” Qadih recalls there was a wall behind him in the hospital. In a blink, it disappeared as the explosion hit. “I don’t know where it went, or why it didn’t collapse on top of me. It felt as though I was looking death directly in the face.

But God saved me,” he said. He also recalled a 13-year-old boy named Jihad Tilkh, who had arrived at the hospital on Sunday and was scheduled to undergo surgery before being discharged and returning home. The boy was killed in the bombing, he said, along with another patient and the doctor on call. In the aftermath of the attack, a group of doctors gathered at Nasser Medical Complex to bid farewell to their colleague, Dr. Rizq Abu Shaeera, 52, who was among those killed.

Muhammad Zakout, the director general of hospitals in Gaza, stood alongside the medical staff as they said their final goodbyes to Abu Shaeera. “The criminal enemy shows us no mercy. It bombs medical staff and patients alike,” Zakout said. “God chose Dr. Abu Shaeera to be a martyr. He was a living witness to the injustice of this enemy and its targeting of medical personnel. It shows no respect whatsoever for the sanctity of hospitals or medical facilities,” he added.

Attacks on hospitals spread fear among people across Gaza, particularly those who depend on the limited treatment still available in the medical facilities. They also endanger displaced families living in tents surrounding hospital compounds, many of whom have themselves become targets of attacks. Following one of the last military incursions into Nasser Medical Complex, mass graves were discovered in the hospital courtyard, containing the bodies of patients and unidentified people.

Similar patterns of attacks and invasions have also been documented at other medical facilities, including al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Mariam Abu Hatab, 41, was accompanying her injured brother to Nasser Hospital, where he was hospitalized and awaiting surgery. She thought he would undergo surgery and return home safely. Instead, the Israeli military bombed what she believed was the safest place he could be, ending his life while he was seeking treatment and hoping to recover.

“This is what has been happening to us since the beginning of the war, even after the announcement of this false ceasefire,” Abu Hatab said. “Here we are, supposedly in a ceasefire, yet the massacres have not stopped. Every day, we bid farewell to martyrs. Every day, they kill more of us. Every day, they bomb us and terrorize us,” he said. “I don’t know how the world can watch all of this with its own eyes every single day and remain silent in the face of such crimes, without even trying to lift this siege from around us and put an end to this daily killing.”