An overnight Israeli air strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed at least six people, including a surgeon, and wounded about 20 others, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said Thursday, according to ABC News Australia. The strike hit the hospital's surgery department, causing extensive damage.

The Israeli military and Shin Bet said in a joint statement that the strike targeted a senior Hamas commander of the group's Khan Younis Brigade, along with other operatives they said were hiding inside the hospital, according to Israel National News. The IDF said Hamas had stored weapons inside the hospital complex and used it to interrogate detainees, and that precision munitions and aerial surveillance were used to limit harm to civilians. Reporting on the identity of the targeted commander has differed between outlets, and the Israeli military said Thursday morning it was still assessing whether he was killed in the strike.

THE ENTIRE FACILITY HAS BEEN RENDERED UNUSABLE.

That assessment, relayed by the hospital's director to reporters, underscores the scale of the damage to one of southern Gaza's last major functioning medical centers. Gaza's health ministry called the strike a "flagrant violation of international law." The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said it had suspended operations at the hospital after staff and patients reported seeing armed men, some masked, inside the complex.

The Israeli military took roughly seven hours to issue its first public comment on the strike. Nasser Hospital has been struck multiple times over the course of the war, including incidents in 2025 that killed journalists and medical staff and drew international condemnation. There was no immediate word on any formal international response to Thursday's strike.