Palestinians say Hamas Khan Younis commander killed in Nasser Hospital strike

Palestinian media reported Thursday that Khaled Abu Anza, commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade, was killed in an overnight IDF strike on a building inside Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. The IDF has not confirmed the reports and said it was still assessing whether the attempted assassination succeeded. Palestinian officials said at least six people were killed, including a surgeon and a teenager, and more than 20 others were wounded.

Palestinian sources also said one of those killed, Murad Abu Zarifa, was involved in the abduction of Adina Moshe from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ October 7 attack. According to Israeli security officials, the strike targeted Hamas facilities inside the hospital complex, including an interrogation and torture site that the military said Hamas had established on one of the floors. That facility was among the targets struck overnight. The hospital has been monitored for an extended period by Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency and Military Intelligence, according to Israeli security officials.

Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has repeatedly accused Hamas of using Nasser Hospital as a base for its operatives and military activity. Security officials said the hospital functions largely as a day-treatment facility, leaving fewer civilians present during evening and nighttime hours, when Hamas personnel were believed to be using parts of the complex. They said the strike was also based on intelligence regarding the people present in the targeted areas.

The operation was carried out by a drone that fired between two and three missiles at the targets and was directed by the Southern Command’s fire center using intelligence provided by the Shin Bet. MSF suspended operations over armed men The Israeli claims are also backed by an earlier account from Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, which suspended its work at Nasser Hospital in February after its staff and patients reported seeing armed men inside the complex.

“In recent months at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, patients and MSF staff have seen armed men, some of them masked, in various areas of the large hospital complex,” the organization said at the time. MSF said the armed men were not seen in areas where its own teams were operating, but elsewhere in the compound. It added that the situation had worsened after the ceasefire, with staff reporting “a pattern of unacceptable acts,” including the presence of armed men, intimidation, arbitrary arrests of patients and suspected movement of weapons.

“These incidents pose serious security threats to our teams and patients,” MSF said. The organization said it had formally raised its concerns with the relevant authorities, stressing that hospitals “must remain neutral, civilian spaces free from military presence or activity” so medical treatment can be provided safely and impartially. MSF resumed its work at Nasser Hospital two months later, in April. Hospital had long been under scrutiny As early as January 2024, Palestinians reported that Israeli forces had surrounded the hospital.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said at the time that Hamas was operating from Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals in Khan Younis and surrounding areas. COGAT said Hamas’ systematic use of hospitals across Gaza had been documented, including a rocket launch from Nasser Hospital. If Abu Anza was indeed killed, as Palestinian reports claim, he would be the third commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade killed since the beginning of the war.

Abu Anza had held the position for about two months after his predecessor, Mohammed Yazouri, known as Abu al-Haytham, was killed by the IDF on September 11. Before him, the brigade was commanded by Rafa Salama, who was killed in July 2024 alongside Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif. The IDF has also targeted Hamas brigade commanders elsewhere in Gaza in recent months. Rafah Brigade commander Nail Abu Obeid was killed on September 16, while northern Gaza brigade commander Ezz al-Din Bikh was killed about two weeks later.

Erdogan accuses Israel of ‘ecocide’ Separately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his criticism of Israel on Wednesday at a UN climate conference in Antalya, which Israel was not invited to attend. “What happened in Gaza is not only genocide but also ecocide,” Erdogan said, according to AFP. Leaders and representatives in the hall responded with applause. “Centuries-old olive trees were uprooted, the soil and water were polluted and cities in Gaza were turned into enormous piles of rubble,” he said, while urging Israel to allow more humanitarian supplies into the Strip.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded on X, accusing Erdogan of using an international forum to promote what it called an “anti-Israel campaign of lies” and of supporting Hamas. “Anyone who truly cares about Gaza should demand the disarmament of Hamas so that reconstruction of the Strip can begin,” the ministry said. Heavy rainfall over the past week has caused widespread flooding and damage across Gaza, particularly in the central Strip.

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, about 70,000 tents were flooded and tens of thousands of people were affected. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the humanitarian situation was worsening, citing heavy rain and flooded tents. A day earlier, the Board of Peace for Gaza called on Israel to immediately approve the entry of additional winter equipment, saying delays had worsened conditions in the Strip. Meanwhile, negotiations over Gaza’s future remain stalled.

U.S. pressure continues for progress on President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war, but officials familiar with the talks describe little substantive movement toward its next stage. Hamas has yet to begin surrendering its weapons, and Gaza remains far from demilitarized.