On November 9th, 2023, alleged Israeli artillery hit Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, causing a power outage that interrupted the oxygen lines to the incubators causing the death of an infant and putting at least eight others at risk. The victim has not yet been identified.

Several news agencies, including Aljazeera, Shehab Agency and Meem Magazine, reported on the incident, sharing a video which featured the Director of Al-Rantisi and Al-Nasr Hospital for Children, Mustafa al-Kahlot. In the video Mustafa announced the death of one child and reported that eight other patients were at risk due to an electricity outage which caused the oxygen to shut off.  He appealed for the protection of the hospital, its patients and its medical staff.

Meem Magazine, quoting al-Kahlot, reported that “The oxygen in the intensive care unit in the nursery was cut off.. The electricity was cut off.. The hospital is out of service except for the intensive care unit.. 8 patients are at risk.. One case died due to the oxygen cut off”. The hospital was, al-Kahlot emphasised, “under siege”. Meem reported that al-Kahlot was “appeal[ing] to the world to prevent a possible massacre!”

Palestine TV similarly reported that there was a “suspension of services as a result of”  Israeli “bombing” of the hospital, leading to the death of one child.

The Lebanese Arab Social Vanguard Party, posting on Facebook, appealed “to the Red Cross to send an ambulance to evacuate sick children”, reporting that the Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital was subjected to “artillery shelling” from Israeli tanks.

Another video, depicting the destruction in Al-Nasr Hospital, shared on Social Media by Roya News TV and others, depicted the destruction of the children’s unit and the aftermath of the blast. Several large ruptures in the hospital walls caused debris to scatter across the floor where concrete had also fallen.  Hospital examination tables, cots, and medical equipment can be seen covered in debris. Equipment had also fallen off shelves and walls, causing some pieces to shatter and break. The comment reads, “destruction after bombing of Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital in Gaza” and included an appeal to “save medical staff and patients”.

Another video posted on Facebook by Al Arabiya Palestine depicted the same scene in one of the larger rooms; there are two large holes from shelling in each corner.  Photos shared on social media by Facebook user Gaza fi Qolobena depicted the same destroyed hospital rooms in the children’s units.

A photo shared on Facebook by the News outlet Livequds showed two children behind the bars of the hospital; both their faces are dirtied with soot. One child, clad in a purple shirt, clings to one of the railings; she is crying and her broken arm is bandaged. Another child with blonde hair and a grey sweater hols a piece of bread in hand and looks toward the camera.

Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Israeli military.