Global outrage has trailed Israeli airstrikes on a hospital in southern Gaza that killed 20 people, including five journalists, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “tragic mishap.”
The strikes hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis yesterday, leaving dozens more wounded, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It was one of the deadliest single incidents involving journalists since the nearly two-year war began.
Among the victims were Mariam Dagga, a 33-year-old freelance visual journalist for the Associated Press; Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters cameraman; Mohammed Salama of Al Jazeera; and freelancers Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmed Aziz, who later died of his injuries.
Al-Ghad TV, a Cairo-based broadcaster, captured the first blast live before a second strike — what rights groups condemned as a possible “double tap” — struck the same location moments later. The Israeli military has not confirmed whether it carried out the double strike but said an investigation was under way.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 192 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the conflict erupted. With Israel barring foreign reporters from entering the territory, Palestinian journalists have been the world’s primary window into the devastation.
International human rights groups and media organisations have condemned the attack, warning that targeting medical facilities and journalists violates international law.
Netanyahu’s office said Israel “values the work of journalists and medical staff” and pledged to look into the incident. But for many in Gaza, the loss of yet more reporters on the frontline has deepened anger and despair.
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