• Deadly strike on journalists at Nasser Hospital draws widespread condemnation from media organizations

GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL

At least 52 Palestinians, including six journalists, were killed Monday and dozens were injured in fresh Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, according to medics.

The Health Ministry said 20 people were killed, including five journalists and a firefighter, in an Israeli strike on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The ministry said the Israeli army hit the fourth floor of one of the complex’s buildings with two airstrikes, noting that the second strike occurred as rescue teams arrived to evacuate the wounded and recover the dead.

Official Palestine TV reported that among the deceased was its cameraman Hussam al-Masri, while Qatari channel Al Jazeera confirmed that its photographer Mohammad Salama was also killed.

A medical source cited by Anadolu also confirmed the death of photojournalist Mariam Abu Dagga.

Photojournalist Moaz Abu Taha was also killed in the Israeli strike targeting the hospital.

Medical sources also confirmed to Anadolu that Ahmed Abu Aziz, a freelance reporter with Tunisian and Moroccan news sites, died of injuries he sustained in the Israeli strike.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said in a statement that a fire engine driver was killed during the strike and that seven others from his team were injured while attempting to rescue victims and recover bodies.

A medical source said two more people, including Hassan Douhan, a reporter for the Palestinian daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida, were also killed by Israeli army fire in the Al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza.

The Israeli army confirmed the attack on the hospital, claiming that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved [civilians] and in no way directs strikes at journalists.”

A military statement said that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered “an initial inquiry as soon as possible” into the strike.

Previous Israeli military probes into attacks on civilians and aid workers have not resulted in accountability, which some observers view as an attempt to evade responsibility.

The new deaths brought the number of journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023 to 246, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.

Condemnations

The deadly attack on Palestinian journalists drew a wave of condemnation from media organizations.

The Associated Press confirmed that Abu Dagga, 33, a freelance journalist who had been reporting for AP since the start of the Gaza war, was among those killed.

Abu Dagga had covered the humanitarian crisis at Nasser Hospital, reporting on doctors struggling to save children suffering from severe malnutrition despite having no prior health conditions, it said.

The London-based Independent Arabia also mourned Abu Dagga, calling her “an example of courage and dedication in conveying the truth.”

Reuters also confirmed that two of its contractors were targeted in the Israeli strike: cameraman al-Masri, who was killed in the attack, and photographer Hatem Khaled, who was wounded.

Deadly attacks

Elsewhere, six more people were killed, including a father and his three children, in an Israeli strike on a residential house near Al-Karama Hospital in northwestern Gaza City.

A young girl was killed and several Palestinians were wounded in Israeli artillery shelling targeting homes near a bakery in northern Gaza City.

Several people were also injured when Israeli shelling struck a tent sheltering displaced families in the Al-Rimal neighborhood in western Gaza City.

Two Palestinians were also killed by Israeli fire and others wounded while waiting for aid in the vicinity of the Zikim area in northwestern Gaza.

Two more people lost their lives by Israeli fire near the Kissufim area east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, while a Palestinian woman from the Yarmouk neighborhood in Gaza City in a drone strike.

In central Gaza, five Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli strike targeting a group of people securing humanitarian aid near the Kissufim crossing.

Two more people were killed and eight others injured by Israeli gunfire while waiting for US aid near a distribution point on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza.

A Palestinian woman was also shot dead by Israeli forces east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

In southern Gaza, four Palestinians waiting for aid were killed by Israeli fire near a distribution center in the vicinity of the Morag axis, southeast of Khan Younis.

Additionally, five Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli strikes on the same city.

A woman was also killed and seven others were wounded in an Israeli strike targeting a tent sheltering displaced people near a mosque in the Al-Mawasi area in western Khan Younis.

Israel has killed more than 62,700 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 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 on the enclave.