DaysofPal – At least five people were killed and several others wounded on Sunday night when an Israeli airstrike targeted Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The bombing devastated a significant portion of the hospital, forcing the evacuation of an entire department, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The Israeli occupation confirmed carrying out the attack, claiming it had targeted “terrorists.” Among the dead was Ismail Barhoum, a senior Hamas political figure, who was undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in a previous Israeli strike.
Hamas condemned the airstrike as a “cowardly Zionist assassination” and accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian leaders, civilians, and what remains of Gaza’s battered healthcare system.
Hospitals Under Attack
Nasser Hospital is the latest in a series of medical facilities struck by Israeli airstrikes since the start of the genocide. Repeated attacks on hospitals have crippled Gaza’s healthcare system, leaving many facilities unable to function. Rights groups and legal experts have denounced these bombings as clear violations of international law.
Palestinian Civil Defense teams said they worked through the night to extinguish a massive fire caused by the bombing.
Meanwhile, Israel has ramped up its assault on Khan Younis, launching relentless airstrikes since breaking the ceasefire on March 18. Hundreds have been killed in the renewed offensive.
This is not the first time Nasser Hospital has come under attack. Between February and April 2024, Israeli forces besieged the medical complex, turning it into a site of mass casualties.
In early February, medical staff reported that Israeli snipers had fired at them inside the hospital, while dozens of civilians were killed just outside. United Nations officials overseeing evacuations at the time described Nasser Hospital as a “place of death.”
When Israeli forces withdrew in April, Palestinian rescue teams discovered a mass grave containing more than 300 bodies. A civil defense official said some of the corpses bore signs of torture. Among the dead were women, children, and medical workers—Palestinians who sought refuge in a hospital only to be met with bombs and bullets.
On Sunday alone, Israeli airstrikes across Gaza claimed the lives of at least 46 people, with most of the casualties reported in Khan Younis and Rafah.
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