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Israel has killed at least 20 people, including several journalists, in a double strike on Nasser Medical Complex, the largest health facility in southern Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave.
The strikes are the latest in a series of attacks by Israeli forces that have killed Palestinian journalists during the war in Gaza, which has become one of the deadliest conflicts for reporters worldwide.
The Gaza health ministry said the fourth floor of the hospital was targeted in the first strike. This was followed by a second hit as ambulance crews arrived to retrieve the dead and wounded. One doctor, Mahmoud al-Habibi, was killed, according to the ministry.
Mariam Abu Dagga, a visual journalist who worked with the Associated Press during the war, was one of five journalists killed. The agency said in a statement it was “shocked and saddened to learn of her death” along with those of other journalists.
Al Jazeera said one of its cameramen, Mohammed Salama, was among the casualties. He is the latest in a series of journalists working for the Qatari-controlled news network to have lost their lives in Israeli strikes.
The attack also killed Hussam al-Masri, a cameraman who worked with Reuters, photojournalist Moaz Abu Taha and journalist Ahmed Abu Aziz, according to the Foreign Press Association, which represents journalists working for international media in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Hatem Khaled, a photographer working with Reuters, was also wounded in the attack.
The FPA said it was “outraged and in shock” at the killings, which it added were among the deadliest Israeli attacks on journalists working for international media in Gaza since the start of the war nearly two years ago.
“We demand an immediate explanation from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Prime Minister’s office. We call on Israel once and for all to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists,” the group’s board said.
“This has gone on far too long.”
The strike also drew international condemnation, with Turkey denouncing it as an attack “on press freedom”. Separately, foreign minister Hakan Fidan called for Israel to be suspended from the UN general assembly when it meets in September over its offensive in Gaza.
The chief of staff of the Israeli military said “an initial inquiry” into Monday’s killings would be launched “as soon as possible.” He added that the military “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians and does not target journalists as such”.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, as of August 18, 184 Palestinian journalists had been killed since the start of the war — most by Israeli air strikes or drone attacks. By contrast 17 journalists have been killed during the war in Ukraine, according to CPJ.
Two weeks ago, a team of five people employed by Al Jazeera died in a targeted strike on their media tent at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. They included prominent Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, known for his reporting on the war and famine in the north of the strip.
Israel alleged that al-Sharif was head of a Hamas cell. But CPJ had warned last month that Sharif — who was also part of a Reuters photo team who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2024 — was being smeared with unproven ties to Hamas to pave the way for his assassination.
He was among the last remaining Al Jazeera correspondents in Gaza, with CPJ saying Israel had killed at least six others before him.
CPJ has accused Israel of “engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that CPJ has ever documented”.
Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza throughout the war, except for tightly controlled visits accompanied by the Israeli military.
International media organisations rely on coverage by Palestinian journalists who often base themselves in media tents outside major hospitals from where they report on news of the latest attacks.
Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv and John Paul Rathbone in Istanbul
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