Diyar Güldoğan
12 November 2026•Update: 12 November 2026
The UN expressed deep alarm Thursday about an Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed six people, injured 27 and caused extensive damage to the medical facility.
“The Special Coordinator ad interim is deeply alarmed by the Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Gaza last night, which killed six people, injured 27 others, and caused extensive damage to the facility,” said deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process ad interim Ramiz Alakbarov said that the ongoing violence and recent increase in military operations exacerbate the immense human suffering in Gaza, and jeopardize the increasingly fragile ceasefire, Haq added.
“The special coordinator reiterates his call for rapid, safe, and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance, including the entry of durable shelter materials and winterization items to ease the suffering of the population as the coldest months approach,” he said.
An Israeli airstrike hit the second floor of the Al-Yasin building at Nasser Medical Complex in western Khan Younis, killing six and injuring 30 others, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense.
The hospital director said the strike caused extensive damage to the intensive care and surgical wards.
Israeli Army Radio described the attack as an “assassination operation” but provided no details.
Haq said under international humanitarian law, all parties are obliged to protect and respect medical personnel and medical facilities, including hospitals. “Such facilities must not be targeted or used for military purposes.”
The deputy spokesman also referred to Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said that Gaza’s health facilities are “lifelines” for its people.
“Yet, since October 2023, the World Health Organization has documented more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare in Gaza, resulting in deaths, injuries, and damaged facilities,” he added.
Haq said a separate strike Thursday hit the vicinity of UN facilities where the UN staff are sheltering in Deir al-Balah.
“It’s not our place to determine why the strike occurred. That’s really for the Israeli authorities to answer, but it was near our facility,” he said, adding all staff are accounted for and safe.
A journalist questioned why neither UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nor the WHO condemned the strike, describing the attack on a health facility as a “crime against humanity.”
“Why is Palestinian blood so cheap that it doesn’t generate condemnation?” the journalist asked.
“I’m well aware that you wish that you could be the one writing these statements, but Mr. Alakbarov and Dr. Tedros have both come out against this attack,” Haq said.
“Both of them have reminded Israel of its legal obligations not to attack health facilities, and we continue to stand by that.”
The UN used the phrase “condemnation many, many times,” said Haq. “If the word ‘condemn’ had magic properties to halt the fighting, we would use it much more frequently. But the simple fact is, we do remind parties of their legal obligations. We do work with all the parties, on all the governments, including those of the Security Council, to make sure that those legal obligations are met.”