Follow-Up: Nasser Hospital Strike Toll Rises to Six; IDF Says Target Was Hamas Brigade Commander, Hamas Denies Military Use of Hospital

There are new developments in the Israeli airstrike that hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, in the early hours of November 12. Gaza's Health Ministry and Civil Defense confirmed on November 12 that the death toll had risen to six, including Rizk Abu Shaira, a 52-year-old surgeon, and a 13-year-old boy who had been scheduled for surgery, with at least 28 more people wounded. When GSM first reported the strike on November 11, local authorities were reporting at least five dead and 20 wounded.

The strike came shortly after midnight local time on November 12 and hit the hospital complex's surgical building. Hospital director Raed al-Dahshan said the missile passed through several floors of the building, badly damaging the surgical ward and the intensive care unit, and that operations at the hospital had been forced to shut down. Nasser Hospital is the largest hospital in southern Gaza and the main facility still operating in Khan Younis, serving at least 500,000 residents.

In a joint statement on November 12, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said the strike targeted Muhammad Abu Ismail, commander of Hamas's Khan Yunis Brigade, and other militants hiding inside the hospital, saying Abu Ismail had planned and advanced attacks against Israeli troops and civilians and that Hamas had turned the hospital complex into a headquarters. The IDF later said Abu Ismail was killed in the strike. That claim comes from the IDF's own statement and has not been independently confirmed.

Hamas denied carrying out military activity inside the hospital, calling the Israeli account a fabricated pretext for bombing a civilian medical facility and describing the strike as a war crime. Gaza Health Ministry official Munir Al-Bursh wrote on social media calling on the world to protect those still alive in Gaza.

The Gaza ceasefire has been in effect for more than a year, since October 2025, with each side accusing the other of violating it. AFP described the strike as the deadliest single strike since Israel's elections last month. According to the United Nations, more than 1,400 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli military action since the ceasefire took effect.

Related: Israeli strike on Gaza's Nasser Hospital surgical building: at least 5 dead, 20 wounded

Source: Gaza Health Ministry; Israel Defense Forces

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：加沙地带南部 Khan Younis 市景（资料图）。照片：Dans 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip (file photo). Photo by Dans, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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