INTERNATIONAL DESK — • Five die across territory in deadliest attacks since Oct 27 polls • Infant freezes to death inside tent for displaced • UN warns Gaza crises worsening as winter approaches KHAN YUNIS: Israeli fire killed 11 people in Gaza on Thursday, including a surgeon in a strike on a major hospital, while a 9-month-old baby died of hypothermia in a displacement tent following severe weather, medics and officials said. The deadliest single strike since Israel’s elections last month hit the surgery ward of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis early on Thursday, killing at least six Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, and wounding nearly 30 others.
Two missiles crashed through the roof of the five-storey building, knocking out the surgery department, which serves half of Gaza’s 2 million people. The Israeli military confirmed the attack on the medical complex, saying it targeted Muhammad Abu Ismail, the commander of Hamas’ Khan Yunis brigade, and additional militants hiding inside. The army said Abu Ismail directed terrorist attacks, adding that Hamas used the hospital to store weapons and conduct interrogations.
Hamas denied using the hospital for military purposes, saying Israel put forward a false narrative to justify the airstrikes. Among those killed was Rezik Abushira, a surgeon featured in a 2026 documentary working alongside visiting US doctors.