Today the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis was struck twice by Israeli tank fire. The first attack was aimed at a claimed camera on the fourth floor; the attack was repeated a few minutes later to kill aid workers who rushed to aid the wounded from the first firing. The attack killed 20 people and wounded 50; among the patients and health workers were 5 news reporters. Senior Israeli Defense Forces officers claimed that firing at a camera was not permitted and all firings at hospitals had to have senior level approval, which this attack did not have.
Nasser Medical Complex, also called Nasser Hospital, was one of the largest referral hospitals in Gaza. It was rendered inoperative by Israeli military attacks and sieges early last year, but a huge public relations operation by Doctors without Borders, the World Health Organization, and public media in May and June of this year, brought the hospital back to partial operation, the only functioning hospital in southern Gaza. This is where the victims of the shooting of people who seek food from American distributions are taken. At the end of June, Nasser Medical Complex was briefly taken from Hamas control by the Popular Forces group led by Abu Shabab. The anti-Hamas group includes ISIS elements and is rumored to receive weapons for the IDF. See Members of Abu Shabab have taken control of Nasser Hospital | The Jerusalem Post.
If you had googled “What is the fate of Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza” yesterday, as I did, Google’s Ai would have answered:
Despite suffering extensive damage, sieges, and raids, Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza has partially resumed medical services in 2025 but operates under extreme pressure. It struggles with a massive patient influx, a catastrophic rise in malnutrition cases, and critical shortages of supplies.
Functionality and services in August 2025
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- Partial operation: Following an Israeli withdrawal in April 2024, staff and international aid organizations worked to restore services. As of August 2025, the complex is operational and is the last major functioning hospital in southern Gaza.
- Overwhelmed capacity: The complex is operating well over its bed capacity, with aid groups reporting that patients are lying in hallways due to a lack of beds.
- Malnutrition crisis: The children’s department is inundated with cases of acute malnutrition. Doctors warn they cannot cope with the sheer volume, with some children dying before they can be treated.
- Trauma care: It functions as a major trauma ward, but staff are forced to prioritize urgent surgeries due to limited resources.
Ongoing challenges
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- Disruption from hostilities: The complex and its surrounding area remain highly insecure. In June 2025, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had to relocate some activities after bombings occurred nearby. UN officials report that patients with injuries from ongoing conflicts are continuously being admitted.
- Severe shortages: The hospital is plagued by shortages of essential supplies, including fuel, food, and medicine. Some staff have fainted on duty due to hunger.
- Infrastructure damage: Significant damage from attacks in early 2024 destroyed critical infrastructure, including the surgical wing and the electrical system. Much of the hospital’s equipment is considered “irreplaceable”.
- Sanitation issues: In August 2025, raw sewage continued to flood parts of the hospital due to damaged systems, exacerbating the health crisis.
- Relocation of services: Because of the high security risk, some specialized services have been moved. As of June 2025, MSF moved its burn and orthopedic activities to a field hospital in Deir al-Balah, though maternity and pediatric intensive care remain at Nasser.
Historical context
The Nasser Medical Complex was at the center of intense military operations in 2024:
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- Siege and raid: In February 2024, Israeli forces besieged and raided the hospital, leading to the deaths of patients who lost power and oxygen.
- Mass graves: Following the withdrawal of Israeli forces in April 2024, mass graves containing hundreds of bodies were discovered in the hospital compound.
- Bombing of surgical department: In March 2025, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the surgical department, which had been undergoing reconstruction.
This past July, a message from the medical teams working at Nasser Medical Complex was published in Spain, cited by Elias Cava, “Salvar una vida en Palestina,” in Foros21, No. 243. It read:
We are working in the midst of death at this moment, and the tanks are only a few meters away…. We are closer to the end than to life. The soldiers make no distinctions, between children and elderly, between doctors and nurses. But we are staying, not because we are not afraid, but because our humanity doesn’t allow us to leave. We stay because we choose to be human rather than nothing and because our mission is more important than individual survival.
And if these crows carry us off, don’t let us be drowned in the obscurity of numbers. Remember us as people who loved life, who had dreams, sons who were waited for, wives who were profoundly loved. We are not superheroes, only we truly understand what it means to be human.
Tell the world about us. Tell them that we were more human than those who pretend to be human. Tell them we choose to die rather than betray our humanitarian oath. Don’t eulogize us. Don’t give us medals of heroism…. Just say the truth, “they understood the real meaning of mercy.”
It is all so unbelievably sad. Netanyhu and his minions, with our tax dollars paying for weapons to kill innocents, has been a horror. Even Israeli citizens are in the streets protesting. I cannot imagine the killing of so many children, families, journalists. Why haven’t countries who sent journalists there done something about it? Who is being held accountable? Netanyahu is a war criminal? Why was he in our country? The Israeli lobby is way too strong. This must end with a two state decision and NO more settlements in the West Bank. Why is the world letting this happen?
Thank you so much for this article. My heart breaks over Israel’s cruel wiping out of human life and ruthless destruction of institutions, such as hospitals, clinics, schools, universities, bakeries, shelters, etc., and the murdering of journalists, medical workers, artists, poets, teachers, children, etc., in Gaza. It is shameful that we are all paying for the genocide with our tax dollars. It’s more crucial than ever to speak out against this inhumane atrocity, so thank you for doing so. It’s equally shameful that this is not the only genocide going on currently, and we residents of the same planet have not yet stopped any of them. International law, human rights, and humanitarian aid seem to have faded into oblivion instead of being respected pillars of life on Earth. As the beloved Gazan poet Refaat Alareer wrote before an Israeli bomb (well, most of the bombs are from the US but used by Israel) prematurely snuffed out his life, “If I must die, you must live to tell my story.” And as the revered Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish wrote in his poem Think of Others, “say ‘if only I were a candle in the dark.'”
Thank you so much for writing about this. Nolan and Arlan have said what I am thinking. B