Tributes were paid to Abu Shaira. “Dr. Rizq was at the hospital during the entire war,” Dr. Mohammed Zaqout, director general of the Health Ministry in Gaza, could be seen telling a crowd of mourners, surrounding a body covered in a shroud, in a video captured for NBC News on Thursday. “He didn’t abandon his duties for even one day.”
Nasser Hospital said a 13-year-old boy, identified as Jihad Naeem Muhammad Abu Tilikh, was also among those killed.
The Israeli military and the Israel Security Agency said they struck a senior Hamas member, along with other militants, who they said had “advanced” attacks from the hospital in the southern Gaza Strip overnight. In a later statement, they identified the senior member as Muhammad Abu Ismail, who they said served as the commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade and had also been responsible for holding hostages in Gaza.
The IDF and ISA said Hamas had “established a presence within the hospital complex and used it as a command center” and stored weapons and conducted interrogations and torture from within the medical complex.
The IDF claimed the hospital’s second floor “serves as a Hamas military HQ, where civilians are not permitted to enter,” alleging that “dozens of hostages were held captive” there earlier in the war. It shared undated photos of weapons that it alleged were found within the complex and others.
The IDF and ISA said steps had been taken to “mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.” They also later said “advance warnings were issued to the population.” The IDF said it was looking into reports that medical workers, including Abu Shaira, and patients were killed.
One woman, Tahani Ibrahim Abu Anza, said her brother, Khaled Abu Anza, was killed in the strike, with Nasser Hospital separately confirming his death.
A number of media outlets, including Israeli media outlet Ynetreported that a commander in Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade of that same name was killed in the strike. Asked to confirm that and whether he was directly targeted, the IDF said it would get back on the matter.
Tahani Ibrahim Abu Anza did not directly identify her brother, 53, as a Hamas member, but said she believed he was targeted. He had been at the hospital for physical therapy after undergoing surgery, she said.
“He did not come to the hospital to engage in combat or resistance. He came for medical treatment,” she said.
Hamas condemned the allegations that it was using the hospital for military operations as “lies of the criminal enemy” and called the attack a “war crime.”
Hospitals have protected status under international law, but they have been heavily targeted under Israel’s yearslong offensive in Gaza. The Israeli military has repeatedly accused Hamas of operating within medical facilities, a charge the militant group has denied.
The overnight attack was not the first time that Nasser Hospital itself has been targeted.
In August 2025, the hospital was hit by a double tap Israeli strike that killed at least 20 people, including journalists and health workers. The deadly attack sparked international outrage.
Of Gaza’s 37 hospitals, just two are considered to be “fully functioning,” while 18 are partially functioning and 17 are considered nonfunctioning after much of the enclave’s healthcare system was devastated under Israel’s offensive, according to data published by the World Health Organization.
Israeli strikes have continued in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October of last year.
Source: www.nbcnews.com
