An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza overnight Wednesday killed at least six people, including a doctor and a child, Palestinian officials say.
The strike on Nasser Hospital shortly after midnight hit the complex’s surgery unit, according to a Gaza Civil Defense spokesman. The attack tore through part of the hospital in the dark of night, Ezz Eddine Abu Sabha said, leaving charred debris scattered across the destroyed unit.
The strike killed 52-year-old Dr. Rizk Abu Shaira, Abu Sabha said, as well as a 13-year-old boy who was supposed to have surgery. A total of 40 people were injured in the Israeli strike, including two doctors who are in critical condition.
“They say there is a ceasefire. Where is there a ceasefire? Since the ceasefire, there are more massacres,” said Maryam Abu Hatab, whose brother was killed in the strike. “There are massacres every day in markets, in universities, in the streets. The donkey carts stood by us more than the world’s countries.”
Footage from inside the hospital showed two bombs, one of which failed to explode. A label on the bomb identified it as a US-manufactured GBU-39/B, a 250-pound bomb that has been supplied to Israel.
“I was asleep when suddenly I was covered with dust and glass,” said Atiya Abu Basir, an elderly patient at the hospital. “I couldn’t walk because I just had surgery.”
Despite a nominal US-brokered ceasefire signed more than a year ago, Israel has carried out near-daily strikes in Gaza. According to the United Nations, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza since the ceasefire, and there is no fully functioning hospital in the devastated enclave.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they targeted the commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade, Muhammad Abu Ismail, as well as “additional terrorists who were hiding inside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.” The IDF said he planned and advanced attacks on Israeli forces and civilians.
CNN reached out to the IDF to ask if Abu Ismail had been killed in the strike and what measures were taken to reduce the risk to civilians.
