Watermelon Pictures, which distributed the film, said it was “devastating about the murder” of the surgeon and condemned the attack. “Dr. Rizq was in the hospital throughout the war. He was rescuing the wounded, the patients. He did not abandon his duties even for a day,” Dr. Mohammed Zaqout, director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, can be seen telling a crowd of mourners, surrounding a body covered in a shroud, in a video captured for NBC News on Thursday. “He’s one of the best doctors,” Zaqout said. “He was always proud of saving lives.” Nasser Hospital said a 13-year-old boy, identified as Jihad Naeem Muhammad Abu Tilikh, also died. The Israeli military and Israel Security Agency said they targeted a senior Hamas member, along with other militants, who they said had “advanced” attacks from the hospital in the southern Gaza Strip overnight. In a later statement, they identified the senior member as Muhammad Abu Ismail, who they said served as commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade and had also been responsible for holding hostages in Gaza. The IDF and ISA said Hamas had “established a presence inside the hospital complex and used it as a command center” and had stockpiled weapons and conducted interrogations and torture from within the medical complex. They shared photos of weapons that were allegedly found inside the complex. A woman, Tahani Ibrahim Abu Anza, said her brother, Khaled Abu Anza, was killed in the attack, and Nasser Hospital separately confirmed his death. Several media outlets, including Israeli outlet Ynet, reported that a Hamas Khan Younis Brigade commander of the same name was killed in the attack. When asked to confirm that and whether he was a direct target, the IDF said it would return to the matter. Tahani Ibrahim Abu Anza did not directly identify his brother, 53, as a member of Hamas, but said he believed he was the target. He had been in the hospital for physical therapy after undergoing surgery, he said. “He didn’t come to the hospital to participate in combat or resistance. He came to receive medical treatment,” he said. Hamas condemned accusations that it was using the hospital for military operations as “lies of the criminal enemy” and called the attack a “war crime.” Injured Palestinians receive medical treatment following the Israeli airstrike, above, and the bloody rubble inside Nasser Hospital on Wednesday. Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty The IDF and ISA said measures had been taken to “mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.” The IDF said it was investigating reports that medical workers, including Abu Shaira, and patients had been killed. The hospitals have protected status under international law, but have been heavily targeted for years by the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The Israeli military has repeatedly accused Hamas of operating inside medical facilities, a charge the militant group has denied. The nighttime attack was not the first time that Nasser Hospital itself was attacked. In August 2025, the hospital was hit by a double Israeli attack that killed at least 20 people, including journalists and health workers. The deadly attack sparked international outrage. Of Gaza’s 37 hospitals, only two are considered “fully operational,” while 18 are partially functioning and 17 are considered non-functional after much of the enclave’s health system was devastated under Israel’s offensive, according to data released by the World Health Organization. Israeli attacks have continued in Gaza despite the ceasefire agreement reached in October last year.
