ANKARA

Three Palestinian journalists were killed on Thursday in a deadly Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza City, taking the overall toll since October 2023 to 225, local authorities said.

A medical source said that Palestine TV cameraman Ismail Badah, reporter Suleiman Hajjaj, and Samir al-Rifai from the Shms News Agency died in a drone strike on the grounds of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.

Gaza’s government media office said the new fatalities brought the number of journalists who died in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023 to 225 after an injured reporter, Yousef Al-Nakhala from Watania Media Agency, died from previous injuries.

The media office appealed to international press groups "to condemn these systematic crimes against Palestinian journalists in Gaza."

It also called on the international community and relevant institutions to pile pressure on Israel “to stop the genocide in Gaza, and protect journalists.”

The deadly attack came one day after the US vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution that called for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip.

Slovenia proposed the draft resolution on behalf of the Security Council's 10 elected members -- Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Pakistan, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Slovenia -- and received 14 votes.

Israel, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a genocidal offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 54,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million inhabitants.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.