CAIRO (AP) — An Israeli airstrike targeting the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed six people and wounded at least a dozen more, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
The strike was carried out early Thursday, according to the Israeli military, which said it struck “a senior Hamas terrorist” and other militants, without providing evidence.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the strike hit the hospital’s surgical wing and that a doctor was among the dead. An Associated Press journalist at the scene said that parts of the building’s second floor were destroyed.
Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis is one of the few functioning medical facilities left in Gaza, whose healthcare infrastructure has been decimated by a yearslong war.
Israel accuses Hamas and its allies of using hospitals as cover for military activity. In a statement, the Israeli military said Hamas had “established a presence within the hospital complex” and was using it as “a command center for military and terrorist activities.”
Israeli forces have previously attacked and raided Nasser Hospital. In 2025, the military killed five journalists — including AP contributor Mariam Dagga — when it struck a gathering point for local reporters at the complex.
The war started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Since then, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 74,600 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government but whose figures are generally considered reliable by the international community.
Israel has continued to strike Gaza despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire and controls at least 60% of the enclave. Since the truce went into effect in October 2025, Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed 1,622 people, health authorities say. Five Israeli soldiers have also been killed during that period.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Palestinians inspect damage to a building and tents a day after they were hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect their damaged tent a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — An 11-month-old South Carolina boy who authorities say was buried alive in a dog crate by his father was found by rescuers after about 24 hours, crying and covered in dirt, his grandfather said about the dramatic rescue.
But soon after, little Koah Sharp stopped crying, John Comer told The Associated Press on Wednesday night as he recalled the events that played out the day before in the woods on his neighbor's property. The infant was put on the back of a truck and sat up, Comer said.
“I became ecstatic, my hands straight in the air. I’m looking in the sky, jumping up and down, praising God,” Comer said. “And at the same time I hit my knees and I’m just crying.”
Koah was released from a hospital Tuesday night and is expected to make a full recovery, Sheriff Jay Koon said.
The boy’s father, Michael Comer, 25, has been charged with attempted murder. John Comer said he'd opened his home to his son and grandson on Monday after Michael Comer said they needed a place to stay.
Michael Comer has been in custody since Monday, when Koah disappeared. Authorities haven’t revealed anything about Comer’s motive. He was sentenced to probation in October after pleading guilty to domestic violence.
Koah’s parents “have had some situations," the sheriff said.
“Children,” he said, “sometimes get caught in the middle.”
Dozens of first responders scoured the countryside looking for the boy with reddish blond hair. After a full day of searching, authorities found freshly disturbed soil and heard cries from below ground, the sheriff said.
“As you can imagine, the race was on. Everyone was trying to get him out,” Koon said.
The boy likely survived because of cool temperatures and an air pocket created by a towel that was wrapped around the crate below ground, he said.
Koah was soon freed and “clinging to life,” the sheriff told reporters.
Comer was arrested while hiding in a building in Batesburg-Leesville. It wasn’t immediately known if he has a lawyer who could respond to the charges. A court hearing was planned for Thursday.
“We’re better now that we know that Koah is safe,” his great-aunt, Amber Hammond, told The Associated Press. She was watching as he was freed from the crate.
Authorities said Koah had been in the care of Michael Comer’s mother. She had to run an errand and left the boy in Comer’s care while another caregiver was on the way.
“By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone, and Koah was gone with him,” the sheriff said.
Surveillance video from several businesses in the area showed Comer without the baby on Monday afternoon, Koon said.
John Comer said he feels like he was taken advantage of by his son when he asked for a place to stay. But, he said, he is also thankful that he agreed because if they had gone somewhere else they may not have found the boy in time.
“It just seems like he already had this planned out, and he knew what he was doing,” Comer said. “And he took the opportunity to do what he did. And if it hadn’t have been here, I don’t think anybody would have known where he would have went, and this would be a completely different story.”
Hammond said her nephew had talked about taking the baby to New York because “he didn’t want to be in the same state as the mom.” When Koah vanished, she and others assumed that Comer had given the boy to someone.
“We had no idea something like this would happen at all,” Hammond said.
Comer was sentenced to probation in October after pleading guilty to domestic violence and aggravated breach-of-peace charges related to an arrest in July, Lexington County online court records show. Prosecutors dropped a gun charge as part of the plea deal. He also got credit for spending more than two months in jail.
At nearly a year old, Koah has been trying to stand on his own, said Hammond, who cared for him last weekend. And he loves watching Mickey Mouse cartoons.
John Comer said he'd never heard his grandson cry before he was found underground.
“He's always been happy," he said. "The kid's always got a smile on his face.”
Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit, Michael R. Sisak in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
Amber Hammond shows a video of her great-nephew, 11-month-old Koah Sharp, on the porch at her home in West Columbia, S.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Amber Hammond, the great aunt of 11-month-old Koah Sharp, poses on the porch at her her home in West Columbia, S.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. Her nephew is accused of burying his son, 11-month-old Koah Sharp, alive. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Amber Hammond shows a photo of her great-nephew, 11-month-old Koah Sharp, and her nephew, Michael Comer, at her home in West Columbia, S.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
This photo provided by the Lexington County Sheriff's office in Lexington, S.C. shows Michael Comer on Nov. 10, 2026. (Lexington County Sheriff's Office via AP)
