• Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital killed at least 20, including 5 journalists

JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Discontent was reported within the Israeli army’s Sayeret Givati unit after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed “deep regret” for a deadly strike on a hospital in southern Gaza that left 20 people dead, including five journalists, local media said Tuesday.

Channel 14 correspondent Hallel Bitton Rosen said he had “heard of significant anger in the Sayeret Givati unit over Netanyahu’s regret for the attack,” adding that troops “hope he apologizes to the fighters instead.”

The outlet said Israeli soldiers confirmed the strike was approved and coordinated with the senior command.

At least 20 Palestinians, including four health workers and five journalists, were killed Monday when Israeli forces struck the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

The Israeli military acknowledged the strike but sought to deflect responsibility for the casualties.

After mounting international condemnation, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement Monday saying “Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap” at the hospital.

Maariv newspaper reported the strike was carried out by a tank crew that “fired several shells, the first toward the hospital stairs and then apparently toward rescue teams arriving on site.”

The paper, citing an Israeli security source, called the strike “a bad incident that should not have happened.”

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said the military investigation is focusing on the approval chain that allowed the tank crew to fire.

Firing toward a hospital requires special authorization, sometimes from the regional commander or even the chief of staff, military sources told KAN.

The Nasser hospital strike was the second Israeli attack on journalists in less than a month. On Aug. 10, Israeli forces targeted six journalists, five of them from Al Jazeera.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, at least 246 journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023.

Israel has killed nearly 63,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for 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 on the enclave.