Gaza’s civil defence agency said five journalists were among at least 20 people killed on Monday when Israeli strikes hit a hospital in the south. Reuters, Associated Press and Al Jazeera have put out statements confirming and mourning their slain contributors.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said “the toll so far is 20 martyrs, including five journalists and one member of the civil defence”, after strikes hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis – a large medical complex in the south that has been targeted several times by Israel since the start of the war.
According to media watchdogs, around 200 journalists have been killed in nearly two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
In a statement, the Israeli military said its troops on Monday “carried out a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis”.
“The Chief of the General Staff instructed to conduct an initial inquiry as soon as possible,” it said, adding that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel deeply regretted what he described as the “tragic mishap” that took place at the hospital.
The civil defence’s Bassal said an Israeli explosive drone targeted a building at Nasser Hospital, followed by an air strike as the wounded were being evacuated.
A spokesman for Qatar-based television network Al Jazeera on Monday said one of its photojournalists and cameramen, Mohammad Salama, was killed in the attack.
“Al Jazeera Media Network condemns, in the strongest possible terms, this horrific crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, who have directly targeted and assassinated journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
Associated Press said in a statement that it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the death of Mariam Dagga, 33, a visual journalist who had freelanced for the agency since the start of the war.
In an earlier statement, it said Dagga had not been on an assignment with the agency when she was killed.
A spokesperson for Reuters said: “We are devastated to learn of the death of Reuters contractor Hussam al-Masri and injuries to another of our contractors, Hatem Khaled, in Israeli strikes on the Nasser hospital in Gaza today.”
“We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem,” the statement added.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate also named two other victims as Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmad Abu Aziz.
The Foreign Press Association on Monday called for an “immediate explanation” from the Israeli military and the prime minister’s office, demanding that Israel “halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists”.
Footage from the immediate aftermath of the attack showed smoke filling the air and debris from the blast on the floor outside the hospital.
Palestinians rushed to help the victims, carrying bloodied bodies and severed body parts into the medical complex. One body could be seen dangling from the top floor of the targeted building as a man screamed below.
A woman wearing medical scrubs and a white coat was among the injured, carried into the hospital on a stretcher with a heavily bandaged leg and blood all over her clothes.
Nasser Hospital is one of the last remaining health facilities in Gaza that is at least partially functioning.
Before the latest killings, media advocacy groups the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders said around 200 journalists had been killed in the Gaza war.
Earlier this month, four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers were killed in an Israeli air strike outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, prompting widespread condemnation.
The CPJ slammed that strike, saying journalists should never be targeted in war.
The Israel-Gaza war has been one of the bloodiest conflicts for media workers, with at least 192 journalists killed in Gaza in the 22-month conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Comparatively, 18 journalists have been killed so far in Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to the group.
Aside from rare guided tours, Israel has barred international media from covering the war. News organisations instead rely largely on Palestinian journalists in Gaza – as well as residents – to show the world what is happening there. Israel often questions the affiliations and biases of Palestinian journalists, but does not permit others in.
Many of the journalists working in Gaza are facing the same struggles to find food – for themselves and their families – as the people they are reporting on.
In addition to those killed at Nasser Hospital, hospital officials in northern Gaza also reported deaths from strikes and gunfire along the route to aid sites.
Three Palestinians, including a child, were killed in a strike on a neighbourhood in Gaza City, where Israel is preparing for a broader ground invasion in the coming days, al-Shifa Hospital said.
Al-Awda Hospital reported that six aid-seekers trying to reach a distribution point in central Gaza were killed by Israeli gunfire in an incident that also wounded 15. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a question about the aid seekers.
Reporting by Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters
