"We lost some of the patients I had been caring for": UK must impose sanctions after Nasser Hospital surgeon killed

At around 00:39 local time on Thursday 12 November, two missiles struck the upper floors of the Yassin Building inside the hospital, directly hitting the surgical department and causing extensive damage to intensive care wards. According to the same statement, one missile failed to explode and remains inside the building, posing an additional threat to patients and medical staff still there.

Footage from inside Nasser following the latest strike shows wrecked rooms, damaged ceilings and corridors covered in debris, with hospital staff carrying injured patients on stretchers through the rubble and helping others to safety.

A nurse working a night shift at Nasser Hospital when the airstrike hit the hospital, said "It was terrifying. I saw patients trapped under the rubble and colleagues injured. We lost some of the patients I had been caring for, including at least two. Our colleague, Dr Rizq Abu Shaeira, was also killed.

Our greatest fear was for the patients. We immediately started trying to evacuate them and get them to safety, working alongside Civil Defence teams and moving those we could rescue to other departments. 

This is not the first time the hospital building where I work has been targeted. In fact, this is the second time the surgical department itself has come under attack. Despite these repeated attacks, we cannot say that we have become used to the fear. It may have become part of our daily reality, but every time it happens, it is terrifying all over again. We fear for our own lives and for the patients whose care has been entrusted to us.

One of the hardest things was losing our colleague, Dr Rizq. He was deeply dedicated to his work, and we had a good relationship with him. We worked together as one team in the surgical department. Just minutes before the attack, he had been checking on a patient and making sure she was doing well. A few minutes later, everything changed, and we lost him. It is incredibly painful to lose a colleague who was simply doing his job and dedicating himself to caring for patients. Sadly, he is not the first colleague we have lost during this war.

The surgical department at Nasser Medical Complex is the main department serving people across southern Gaza. We see at least 30 patients there every day here, and the demand for its services has never let up. Despite the limited resources, we did everything we could to provide patients with the surgical care they needed. We knew how important it was to keep these services running for people who depend on them so much."

Nasser, the largest hospital in southern Gaza, is among the few hospitals still able to provide care, despite over three years of Israel’s genocide and systematic attacks on healthcare. The attack is now the seventh time Israeli forces have targeted Nasser Hospital since the start of the genocide in October 2023.

According to UN OCHA, just 20 of Gaza’s 37 hospitals remain partially functional, and none are fully functional. A UN assessment published in April 2026 found that 1,825 health facilities had been partially or fully damaged since October 2023. The hospital was also hit in a double tap Israeli military strike in August 2025, which killed at least 20 people, including journalists and healthcare workers. The World Health Organisation has documented more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare in Gaza since October 2023.

MAP supports 10 departments at Nasser and has helped restore hospital services destroyed during Israel's genocide, including the surgical unit struck overnight by Israeli forces. It is establishing a new mental health unit and leads on comprehensive cancer care and infection prevention and control. Since October 2023, MAP has supported more than 16,000 cancer patients across Gaza, supplying cancer medicines and chemotherapy and helping rehabilitate cancer services at Nasser and the European Hospital in southern Gaza.

The attack is yet another indication that the so-called "ceasefire" has brought neither safety nor an end to Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system. Hospitals, healthcare workers and patients continue to be exposed to fear and violence, while the capacity to provide even basic and life-saving treatment is further eroded.

Steve Cutts, CEO at Medical Aid for Palestinians, said: “A surgeon has been killed in the hospital where he worked, patients have been killed in their beds, and surgical and intensive care facilities have been hit. What kind of ceasefire is this? Israel’s attacks are continuing, and Gaza’s hospitals are being left to pick up the pieces of a health system that has already been systematically dismantled. 

"Statements of concern have never protected Gaza’s patients, hospitals or healthcare workers. The UK Government must turn its outrage over what is happening in Gaza into action, and immediately suspend all arms transfers to Israel. It must also use its expanded sanctions powers against those responsible for systematic attacks on healthcare and the constant obstruction of medical supplies. There must be consequences for those responsible for the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.”

MAP is calling on world leaders and the UK Government to take immediate action to end attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system and ensure hospitals, patients and health workers are protected. They must:

• Immediately suspend all arms sales to Israel, including components for F-35 fighter jets, and end all military cooperation.
• Use the UK’s expanded sanctions powers immediately against those responsible for obstructing humanitarian aid and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including attacks on healthcare.
• Support international accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, to investigate attacks on healthcare and other serious violations of international law.
• Ensure the rapid and unobstructed entry of humanitarian aid, medical supplies, shelter and reconstruction materials into Gaza.
• Enforce a permanent ceasefire and take action to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

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MAP spokespeople are available for interview on request. Please contact the press office to arrange at: [email protected] or +44 (0)20 3869 1310