Israeli Gaza strike kills 20, including five reporters
Israel has come under widespread condemnation for a strike on a hospital it labelled a “tragic mishap”.
Israel’s attack on Nasser Hospital killed 20 people, including five journalists who worked for major news organisations.
The World Health Organisation said four health workers were also killed.
The second strike reportedly hit rescuers who had rushed to provide help after the first attack.
Netanyahu said on Monday (local time) that Israel “deeply regrets” the mistake.
He said Israel “values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians,” and that the military was investigating.
Among the dead were five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others.
The Israeli military is refusing to provide a public explanation for the incident.
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The UN secretary-general, along with Britain, France and others, condemned the attack. In Australia, Environment Minister Murray Watt joined the condemnation.
“This is not the first time we’ve seen Mr Netanyahu apologise or accept what he calls innocent mistakes or mishaps. When it happens it costs people’s lives,” he told ABC TV on Tuesday.
The Foreign Press Association said it was “outraged and in shock”.
“This is among the deadliest Israeli attacks on journalists working for international media since the Gaza war began,” it said.
“These strikes hit the exterior staircase of the hospital where journalists frequently stationed themselves with their camera.”
A photojournalist with Reuters News Agency, Hussam Al-Masri, was killed. Photo: AAP
Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor, was killed near a live broadcasting position operated by Reuters on an upper floor just below the roof of the hospital in Khan Younis in an initial strike, according to Palestinian health officials.
Officials at the hospital and witnesses said Israel then struck the site a second time, killing other journalists, as well as rescue workers and medics, who had rushed to the scene to help.
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The journalists killed included Mariam Abu Dagga, who freelanced for the Associated Press and other outlets, Mohammed Salama, who worked for Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist who worked with several news organisations, including occasionally contributing to Reuters, and Ahmed Abu Aziz.
Photographer Hatem Khaled, also a Reuters contractor, was wounded.
Among the casualties was NBC News Gaza correspondent Moaz Abu Taha. Photo: AAP
Israel’s military, the Israel Defence Forces, acknowledged striking the area of Nasser hospital.
The IDF “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such. The IDF acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible while maintaining the safety of IDF troops,” it said.
A Reuters spokesperson said in a statement: “We are devastated to learn that cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a contractor for Reuters, was killed this morning in Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in Gaza.
Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist whose work had been published by Reuters, was also killed, and photographer Hatem Khaled, a Reuters contractor, was wounded.”
“We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem,” the spokesperson added.
The AP said it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the deaths of Abu Dagga and other journalists, adding that Abu Dagga had often based herself at the hospital for coverage, which recently included stories on starving and malnourished children.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned Israel for the strikes, saying it represented “an open war against free media, with the aim of terrorising journalists and preventing them from fulfilling their professional duty of exposing its crimes to the world”.
More than 240 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the war started on October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
Two weeks ago, Israel killed prominent Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif and four other journalists in a strike.
Israel has barred all foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in 2023.
Reporting from the territory throughout the war has been produced by Palestinian journalists, many of whom have worked for many years for international media organisations, including wire services such as Reuters and the Associated Press.
-with AAP/AP
