Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns the grave crime committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in targeting the surgical building at Nasser Medical Complex, which resulted in the killing of six Palestinians and the injury of 25 others. This attack is part of an ongoing pattern of turning hospitals and healthcare facilities into military targets and sites of bombardment, rather than places of safety for patients, the wounded, and the injured. Al Mezan stresses that Israel’s continued attacks on hospitals and the killing of patients and wounded persons inside them are effectively turning these facilities into death traps and stripping them of the special protection afforded under international humanitarian law. Such attacks demonstrate blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life and the fundamental principles and rules of international law.

According to field information, at approximately 12:38 a.m. on Thursday, 12 November 2026, an Israeli warplane bombed the surgical building on the second floor of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. The missile penetrated the upper floors of the building before exploding on the second floor, killing six Palestinians, including a doctor, patients, and wounded persons. The victims were identified as Dr. Rizq Ahmad Abu Shaeera, child Jihad Naeem Abu Teilakh, Khaled Abu Anza, Murad Abu Zureifa, Saif Abu Hatab, and Mohammad Abu Awwad. A further 25 people were injured. The bombardment caused extensive destruction to the intensive care and male and female surgical departments.

(B.A.), a displaced journalist in Khan Younis who lives in a tent designated for journalists next to Nasser Medical Complex, reported:

“At around 12:35 a.m., while we were asleep, we heard an extremely loud explosion very close to the tent where I was staying. I stepped outside and saw smoke rising from the hospital building, specifically from the second floor, where the surgical department is located. I waited for a short while, fearing that another strike might hit the area. Shortly afterwards, however, a group of journalists and I went to document the incident. When we reached the targeted floor, I saw a large number of wounded and injured people, including patients and doctors, lying on the ground. Some were screaming, while others were motionless. The remaining medical staff then began trying to evacuate them from the targeted floor.”

This crime comes amid the continued military escalation across the Gaza Strip and the ongoing targeting of civilians and displaced persons in their homes, shelters, tents, and gatherings. It also coincides with the further deterioration of humanitarian and health conditions as a result of the tightened blockade and restrictions on the entry of humanitarian assistance. These restrictions include tents, particularly after tens of thousands were flooded and damaged during the current week, as well as medicines, medical supplies, electricity generators, fuel, and engine oils. This is threatening the suspension of the remaining healthcare services and placing the lives of thousands of civilians at grave risk.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, hospitals across the Gaza Strip received 45 fatalities and 167 injured persons between the beginning of November and the issuance of this statement. Since the signing of the Sharm El-Sheikh ceasefire agreement and its entry into force on 11 October 2025, the death toll has risen to 1,635, with 5,932 others injured.

Meanwhile, on Thursday morning, the IOF arrested six fishermen while they were fishing off the coasts of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

Issam Younis, Director General of Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, stated:

“The seventh attack on Nasser Medical Complex, which has resulted in the killing of patients, wounded persons, and medical personnel inside the facility, constitutes an extremely grave assault on the right to life and the inviolability of medical facilities. It reflects the continued targeting of civilians and the very conditions necessary for their survival in the Gaza Strip. Turning hospitals into military targets and death traps, while simultaneously maintaining the blockade, imposing starvation, and preventing the entry of medical and humanitarian supplies, places the international community before its legal and moral responsibilities. It requires urgent action to halt these crimes, ensure accountability, and prevent those responsible from enjoying impunity.”

As bombardments continue and the number of fatalities rises, Gaza’s healthcare system remains under mounting pressure, with its capacity to respond to growing humanitarian and medical needs increasingly threatened. The Ministry of Health has warned that approximately 42% of essential medicines and 50% of medical consumables are unavailable. Treatment protocols for cancer and blood disease patients have also been severely disrupted due to a 55% depletion of essential treatments. These critically low stocks of medicines and medical consumables are part of the systematic restrictions imposed on the healthcare system, threatening its complete collapse and leaving medical personnel almost entirely unable to provide life-saving care.[1] [2]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has likewise confirmed that the health sector in Gaza continues to face a severe crisis, with medical needs far exceeding the capacity of hospitals and healthcare centres to respond, amid limited resources, shortages of essential services, and barriers preventing patients from accessing treatment. The Organization has noted that thousands of injured people are living with serious injuries requiring rehabilitation and long-term treatment. Maternal and newborn healthcare, treatment for chronic diseases, and mental health services have also been severely affected, alongside the extensive damage sustained by healthcare facilities, ambulances, and medical personnel.[3]

Amid the continued deterioration of humanitarian and health conditions across the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian crisis has further intensified with the onset of low-pressure weather systems and heavy rainfall. Displaced persons and shelters have been particularly affected, as flooding and severe weather conditions have damaged thousands of families’ shelters, triggered repeated displacement, and left thousands of families without shelter.

While strongly condemning the attack on Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, as well as the continued targeting of civilians and medical facilities amid a suffocating blockade and the systematic deprivation of the population of the essentials of life, Al Mezan stresses that international silence in the face of these crimes can no longer be dismissed as mere inaction. It constitutes a failure to uphold legal and humanitarian obligations and effectively grants the occupying forces a licence to continue their brutal killing operations, encouraging the continuation of the genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.

Accordingly, Al Mezan calls upon the international community, the United Nations, and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to take immediate and effective action to halt the genocide and Israeli crimes; ensure effective protection for civilians, hospitals, and medical personnel; compel the Israeli occupying authorities to open the crossings and allow the unimpeded entry of humanitarian and medical assistance; and take meaningful steps to ensure accountability and bring those responsible for these crimes to justice, without allowing them to evade punishment. The continued perpetration of these crimes in the absence of accountability undermines what remains of the international justice system and leaves the lives of civilians in the Gaza Strip exposed to further killing and suffering.