Jerusalem, 12 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Responding to international scrutiny and criticism over military operations inside medical facilities, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released intelligence justifying its overnight precision airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, the main urban center of the southern Gaza Strip along the eastern Mediterranean coast.
The military stated the strike targeted senior Hamas commander Muhammad Abu Ismail, who has led the group’s Khan Yunis Brigade since the September killing of its previous chief, alongside two engineering and intelligence communications operatives.
According to the IDF, Hamas transformed the hospital’s guarded second floor into a restricted military command center to plan attacks and hold Israeli and foreign hostages—including captives abducted from Israeli border communities such as Kibbutz Nahal Oz—some of whom were detained inside the medical complex itself.
Addressing concerns over civilian infrastructure, officials emphasized that Israel issued repeated prior warnings demanding militant activity cease and struck a single room to minimize harm to patients and staff.