GAZA CITY: Five journalists were among at least twenty people killed during Israeli strikes on a southern Gaza hospital according to the territory’s civil defence agency.
Reuters, the Associated Press and Al Jazeera all confirmed the deaths of their contributors in Monday’s attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal stated “the toll so far is 20 martyrs, including five journalists and one member of the civil defence.”
The Israeli military acknowledged conducting “a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis” while adding that “the Chief of the General Staff instructed to conduct an initial inquiry as soon as possible.”
Bassal described an Israeli explosive drone striking a hospital building followed by an air attack during evacuation efforts for the wounded.
Al Jazeera confirmed the death of photojournalist Mohammad Salama and condemned “this horrific crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces.”
The Associated Press expressed being “shocked and saddened” by the death of thirty three year old visual journalist Mariam Dagga who had freelanced for them since the war began.
Reuters announced “we are devastated to learn of the death of Reuters contractor Hussam al-Masri and injuries to another of our contractors, Hatem Khaled.”
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate identified two additional victims as Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmad Abu Aziz with Abu Taha having worked with various Palestinian and international outlets.
AFP journalists reported seeing smoke filled scenes with debris scattered outside the hospital following the attack.
Palestinians rushed bloodied bodies and severed limbs into the medical complex while one victim remained visible dangling from a damaged upper floor.
A wounded woman in medical scrubs was carried into the hospital on a stretcher with extensive bandaging and blood soaked clothing.
Nasser Hospital represents one of Gaza’s last partially functioning health facilities amid the ongoing conflict.
Media watchdogs previously documented approximately two hundred journalist deaths during nearly two years of warfare between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier this month, four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers died in an Israeli air strike outside Gaza City’s Al Shifa hospital.
The Israeli military alleged that killed Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al Sharif headed a Hamas “terrorist cell” responsible for rocket attacks.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned that strike while emphasizing that journalists should never become wartime targets.
Current hostilities began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack that killed one thousand two hundred nineteen people according to AFP figures based on Israeli records.
Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed at least sixty two thousand seven hundred forty four Palestinians according to Gaza’s health ministry statistics deemed reliable by the United Nations. – AFP