IDF Targets Senior Hamas Operatives in Precision Strike on Nasser Hospital Compound in Khan Yunis

By: Fern Sidman

In a high-stakes overnight operation on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a precision airstrike on a Hamas command-and-control center embedded within the Nasser Hospital complex in Khan Yunis, deep in the heart of the southern Gaza Strip. The targeted facility, according to Israeli intelligence, served as a nerve center for planning and executing attacks against both Israeli civilians and military personnel.

As reported on Tuesday by The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), the IDF said the strike was part of an ongoing campaign to dismantle the remaining operational infrastructure of Hamas’s southern command, which has entrenched itself within civilian institutions—particularly hospitals—in an effort to deter Israeli countermeasures and provoke international condemnation.

Military officials cited by JNS confirmed that the Nasser Hospital compound was being used not for medical treatment, but as a strategic military hub. The facility reportedly housed senior Hamas figures, including the designated successor to Ismail Barhoum, the longtime Hamas strongman in Gaza and key figure in the group’s financial apparatus. Barhoum himself was eliminated in a separate IDF strike in March, as part of an escalating Israeli campaign to target Hamas’s top echelon.

The IDF accused Hamas of once again using medical infrastructure as human shields, calling it a “cynical and brutal exploitation” of Gaza’s civilian population. The report at JNS indicated that the tactic, which has been widely documented in past conflicts, is part of a broader strategy by Hamas to embed military assets within sensitive civilian sites such as schools, mosques, and hospitals—effectively daring Israeli forces to strike them and risk collateral damage.

“Hamas continues to deliberately endanger the lives of civilians by embedding its command structure in hospitals,” the IDF said in a statement, emphasizing that its mission was executed using precision-guided munitions and real-time intelligence to minimize civilian casualties.

Among those reportedly killed in the strike was Hassan Aslih, a Gaza-based “journalist” with deep ties to the upper ranks of Hamas’s leadership. The JNS report reminded readers that Aslih rose to infamy after broadcasting live footage of a burning Israeli tank during the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, an act that earned him accolades in jihadist circles and made him a key media mouthpiece for the terror group.

Hebrew media sources, as cited by JNS, reported that Aslih was a personal confidant of Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7 attack and currently Israel’s most-wanted fugitive. Aslih’s death marks a significant blow to Hamas’s propaganda network, which has been instrumental in shaping global opinion and rallying support for the group’s activities, often under the guise of journalism.

The operation draws attention to the IDF’s evolving tactics in Gaza, which now emphasize micro-targeting, real-time surveillance, and aerial intelligence fusion to neutralize threats while maintaining an overt commitment to international humanitarian law. According to the information provided in the JNS report, the strike was part of a broader strategy to disrupt Hamas’s operational continuity without triggering the kind of mass-casualty event that could turn world opinion sharply against Israel.

The IDF also reaffirmed its operational transparency in the wake of the strike, inviting international observers and journalists to examine evidence of Hamas’s militarization of civilian institutions.

“We are at war not only with Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure, but with its propaganda strategy,” one Israeli military spokesperson told JNS. “The world must understand that when we strike a hospital, we’re not striking medicine—we’re striking militants who hide behind medicine.”

The IDF reiterated that the war against Hamas is far from over, and that operations will continue in Khan Yunis and elsewhere until Israel’s southern communities can once again live free of the constant threat of rocket fire and cross-border attacks.

“This operation sends a clear message: no place used by Hamas for terror is immune, even if wrapped in a white flag,” said an Israeli official speaking to JNS. “We will not allow Hamas to continue exploiting the suffering of Palestinians to prolong its own survival.”

As the war enters its tenth month, the IDF’s campaign has become more surgical, focused on neutralizing senior figures and command structures that enable Hamas’s ability to regroup and strike again. The destruction of this Hamas command center at the Nasser Hospital marks another significant step in that broader strategic effort.