London – A senior Hamas official was killed in an Israeli air attack in a hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday, the terrorist group and Israel’s defense forces said, since Israel expanded its renewed campaign to the Palestinian territory.
Ismail Barhoum, a high -level member of the Hamas political office, was killed in the strike at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Hamas confirmed, describing the attack as a “coward” murder. Hamas said Barhoum was receiving medical treatment at the hospital when he was killed.
The IDF and the Israeli security agency said in a joint statement that the attack went to a “key terrorist in the terrorist organization of Hamas” that was “operating inside the hospital, which is the largest in southern Gaza.
The Gaza Ministry of Health led by Hamas said that the Israeli strike went to the surgical wing of the hospital and occurred when “many patients and injured” were inside the hospital. The videos of the scene showed a fire inside the building after the strike.
The Palestinians try to set fire to Nasser hospital after it was hit by an Israeli air attack, in Khan Younis in the Southern Gaza Strip, on March 23, 2025.
-/AFP through Getty Images
The Ministry said that “many others”, including medical staff, were injured in the strike, “with various degrees of injuries.” The attack, he added, “also caused panic and forced the complete evacuation of the department after a large part was destroyed.”
The Nasser Hospital has been bombarded several times by the Israeli forces since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023, after Hamas’s surprise attack south of Israel.
The FDI forces raided the hospital in February 2024, when the IDF said it had intelligence that the hostages taken during the October 7 attack had been held there. Israel has repeatedly alleged that Hamas was using installation as a “command and control center.” Hamas has denied the use of Nasser and other Gaza hospitals for military purposes.
Israel resumed its air and land campaign in Gaza last week, ending the high the fire agreed with Hamas in January.
According to the Ministry of Health of Gaza, at least 673 people have been killed and 1,233 wounds for Israeli strikes since the ceasefire ended, according to the Ministry of Health of Gaza. The number of deaths for death in Gaza since October 7, 2023, is now in 50,021, according to the Ministry.
Diaa Ostaz de ABC News, Will Gretsky and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
