At least 19 people were reportedly killed Monday in an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, including several journalists, Palestinian authorities said. IDF chief Eyal Zamir ordered an immediate investigation, with the military saying it regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists, while acting to minimize civilian casualties and ensure troop safety. Military officials said the hospital was attacked after a "credible threat" was detected on its roof.
Video circulating online showed the moment the hospital was struck. According to Hamas’ government-run Ministry of Communications, the journalists killed were Husam Al-Masri, a Reuters photographer in Gaza; Muhammad Salama, a photographer for Al Jazeera; Moaz Abu Taha; and independent journalist Mariam Abu Daka, who has more than 200,000 Instagram followers. The ministry said they were killed while covering events at the hospital.
The attack on Nasser Hospital
Sources in Gaza said two additional strikes followed in the same area while civil defense teams were evacuating victims from the first explosion.
Officials said the strike was not carried out from the air but by a ground-launched missile or naval fire. According to the military, the threat originated from within the hospital grounds, which were supposed to have been evacuated in accordance with earlier Israeli warnings.
Initial assessments suggest the hospital was hit by at least two shells fired in succession. The army is examining whether the fire came from artillery or tanks. The IDF has avoided shelling the hospital area with artillery since May, after several similar incidents, and stressed that hospitals are always designated “sensitive sites,” which cannot be targeted without special approval from a very senior officer and only after specific pre-strike procedures.
Dr. Atef Al-Houth, director of Nasser Hospital, told Al-Arabi television that the strike hit the hospital’s fourth floor without warning. He said several operating rooms stopped functioning and that the hospital is treating around 1,000 patients, far beyond its capacity of 140 beds.
The strikes come amid accelerated Israeli preparations for a ground operation deep in Gaza City, described by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the final stronghold of Hamas in northern Gaza. The operation, dubbed Gideon Chariots II, follows tens of thousands of reserve call-up orders as Israeli forces prepare to confront terrorists entrenched for nearly two years in the densely populated city.
A senior IDF official told CNN that the number of terrorists in the city is unclear, but encounters with well-prepared Hamas fighters are expected in the extensive tunnel network beneath Gaza. The official said the so-called “metro” system is a complex structure with strategic command posts, multiple branches and tactical routes used for rapid movement and ambush attacks.
The IDF said up to one million Gaza residents will need to be evacuated before the ground operation, in line with a cabinet decision that designated October 7—the second anniversary of the war—as the symbolic deadline for completing evacuations. Following that, Israeli forces are expected to strike multiple targets in the city, including areas previously spared due to dense civilian presence. Defense Minister Israel Katz called Gaza the “capital of Hamas” and warned that in the event of conflict, “the gates of hell will open.”
First published: 12:04, 08.25.25