An Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, resulted in the deaths of at least two individuals, including a prominent Hamas political bureau member, Ismail Barhoum, and a 16-year-old boy. Hamas and health officials confirmed these deaths, which occurred while Barhoum was receiving medical treatment late on Sunday.
Barhoum’s assassination followed the killing of another Hamas political bureau member, Salah al-Bardawil, and his wife in a strike on a tent shelter in Khan Younis earlier that day. This marks the fourth member of Hamas’s political bureau to be killed by Israel since major military operations resumed in Gaza following a stalemate over the next phase of the ceasefire with Hamas.
In response to the airstrike, Hamas condemned the attack as a violation of international law and an example of the ongoing policy of targeting Palestinian lives, leadership, and medical facilities. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz acknowledged Barhoum as the target of the attack.
The Israeli military claimed that the strike was executed with precision to minimize harm after an extensive intelligence-gathering process and accused Hamas of using civilian infrastructure, including active hospitals, for planning and launching terrorist attacks.
Footage captured from near Nasser Hospital showed a fireball erupting from the building’s upper floors, moments before an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent had planned to go live from the scene. At least eight other Palestinians were reportedly injured, all of whom had been receiving treatment for previous injuries. Medical personnel spent hours battling fires in the affected department.
Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary reported that hospitals across the Gaza Strip are facing severe challenges due to shortages of medical supplies and medicine, exacerbated by the prolonged closure of border crossings by Israeli forces. The situation is reportedly deteriorating in various parts of the Gaza Strip, including Beit Layhia in the north and Rafah in the south.
Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon volunteering at Nasser Hospital, confirmed that the 16-year-old boy killed in the attack was his patient, noting that the surgical ward for male patients was destroyed and would require complete reconstruction. He criticized Israeli forces for targeting the hospital, arguing that deliberate attacks on such facilities are a violation of international norms.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/24/israeli-strike-on-gaza-hospital-kills-hamas-leader-teen-officials-say?traffic_source=rss
