Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday devastated two hospitals in Khan Younis, Gaza, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, including patients, medical staff, rescue workers, and journalists. The twin attacks on the Nasser Medical Complex and the European Hospital marked a new escalation in Israel’s ongoing military campaign, which has already left much of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure in ruins.
Early in the day, a strike hit the Nasser Medical Complex, killing at least two people, including prominent Palestinian photojournalist Hasan Eslaih. Eslaih, the director of the Alam24 News Agency, had been receiving treatment at the hospital after surviving a previous Israeli airstrike in April. He had lost a finger and sustained other serious injuries during that earlier attack. According to Gaza officials, Eslaih is at least the 215th media worker killed by Israeli forces since October 2023.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the aftermath: “The burn unit was struck, 18 hospital beds in the surgical department, eight beds in the intensive care unit, and 10 inpatient beds were destroyed. This is a huge blow to the already overwhelmed health system.” Tedros added, “We repeat our call: Attacks on hospitals must stop. The aid blockade must end to allow immediate entry of food, medicines, and equipment to support patients and the rehabilitation of hospitals. The best medicine is peace.”
Just hours later, Israeli warplanes dropped six bombs on the European Hospital, also in Khan Younis, striking the courtyard and surrounding areas. The attack killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens more, according to the Hamas-run civil defense agency. The strike left several deep craters within the hospital compound and buried multiple vehicles, including part of a large bus. Local sources said that rescue efforts were delayed due to Israeli drones hovering overhead, with a quadcopter drone reportedly injuring two civil defense officers who attempted to reach the scene.
British surgeon Dr. Tom Potokar, working with the international aid charity IDEALS, was inside the European Hospital during the bombing. “There was complete panic,” he said. “Six enormous explosions one after the other” struck the facility, and “there was no warning whatsoever.” Potokar emphasized that the hospital was treating vulnerable patients: “This is where kids with cancer are waiting to be evacuated and supposed to be ‘deconflicted.’”
The Israeli Defense Forces acknowledged the strike, claiming it had targeted “Hamas operatives who were inside a command and control complex built within an infrastructure under the hospital.” In a joint statement, the IDF and Israeli Securities Authority alleged that Hamas “continues” to use hospitals in Gaza for its activities—an accusation the group denies.
Israeli media outlets reported that the intended target of the European Hospital strike may have been Mohammed Sinwar, brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Mohammed Sinwar is believed to have assumed leadership of the group’s military wing following the death of Mohammed Deif last summer. Hamas has not commented on the claim.
Tuesday’s strikes are the latest in a long line of attacks on Gaza’s health system. The Gaza Government Media Office reports that 38 hospitals, 81 health centers, and 164 medical facilities have been destroyed, damaged, or rendered inoperable since Israel’s military campaign began after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs condemned the bombings: “These attacks are unacceptable and must end. Healthcare is not a target.”
The Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibit attacks on hospitals, which are considered protected civilian infrastructure under international law. The Gaza Health Ministry stated that “the repeated targeting of hospitals and the pursuit and killing of wounded patients inside treatment rooms” confirms “Israel’s deliberate intent to inflict greater damage to the healthcare system.”
The destruction of Gaza’s medical infrastructure has drawn international scrutiny. Last year, an independent United Nations commission concluded that “Israel has perpetrated a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system as part of a broader assault on Gaza, committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities.” The report detailed hundreds of IDF attacks and estimated that around 1,700 medical workers had been killed or wounded, calling the attacks “widespread and systematic.”
The United States has continued to provide military and diplomatic support to Israel throughout the conflict. Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill commented on social media following the hospital strikes: “The U.S. is facilitating these war crimes and most Western journalists remain totally silent.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a statement condemning both the bombings and U.S. complicity. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bombs hospitals, slaughters Palestinian civilians, destroys homes, and seeks to starve and ethnically cleanse the population of Gaza, all in a brutal campaign to continue Israel’s genocide and stay in office indefinitely,” CAIR stated. The group added that U.S. President Donald Trump “must act to stop these crimes against humanity, which our nation has unfortunately enabled for decades, and finally allow the Palestinian people to live in peace and freedom.”
According to local sources, the dead and wounded from the European Hospital were transferred to Nasser Hospital, whose emergency department had already been damaged earlier in the day. Medical staff at both sites are struggling to manage the influx of casualties, amid a dire shortage of supplies, fuel, and functioning equipment.
Tuesday’s attacks have further undermined the possibility of medical care for Gaza’s civilian population. The territory’s health system is on the brink of total collapse, with humanitarian organizations warning that without immediate international intervention, the death toll could rise exponentially. The total number of Palestinians reported dead, wounded, or missing since the beginning of Israel’s siege now exceeds 186,000, with millions more displaced, starving, or gravely ill.
As allegations of war crimes mount, the International Court of Justice in The Hague continues to hear South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. At the same time, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extermination and the use of starvation as a method of warfare.
With Gaza’s hospitals reduced to rubble and its civilians targeted even while seeking treatment, the question of accountability remains at the forefront. As Dr. Potokar said, describing the children and cancer patients trapped under fire, “This is supposed to be de-conflicted.” But in Gaza, no place remains safe.
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