At least 20 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, including five journalists who were reporting on the hostilities taking place. The bombardment consisted of 2 missiles that penetrated the fourth floor of the hospital, and the 2nd missile entered the same place a few seconds after a rescue team was already present at the scene to assist the victims of the initial projectile.
Hospital strike summary: Two weapons attacks medical facility
The Israeli military acknowledged that it had performed an attack in the Nasser Hospital area in Khan Younis, which was the largest medical facility in the southern Gaza region. CBC News states that the events occurred when the victims on the fourth floor were killed by one missile, followed by another missile landing on the same point as rescue teams tried to go in to help.
The hospital has withstood Nazi raids and bombardment in the 22-month war, with officials complaining of acute shortages of supplies and staff. The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu classified the assault as a tragic accident, and the Israeli defense service stated that it would examine the case, and grieved the injury of the bystanders.
This is how the attack took away five journalists’ lives
Some of the journalists who were killed served some of the leading international news organizations. Al Jazeera described the death of its journalist, Mohammed Salam, and Reuters its contractor cameraman, Hussam al-Masri, as having taken place in the strike. The other two journalists are known as Moaz Abu Taha and the other known as Ahmed Abu Aziz; both had worked with different news agencies and channels previously, including Reuters.
Journalists’ casualties: Gaza war proves fatal to the journalists
The war between Israel and Hamas has become one of the deadliest conflicts in the media. As of now, the Committee to Protect Journalists has a total of 192 journalists killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict. The regional director of the organization, Sara Qudah, criticized the fact that journalists continued to be killed, adding that such killings should stop and that those committing the act could no longer be allowed to go unpunished.
The director general of Reporters Without Borders, Thibaut Bruttin, termed the scenario a retrogressive move in the security of journalists. He also pointed out that there have been journalists being killed in both indiscriminate attacks and in targeted attacks, which the military of Israel has admitted to being conducted. One of those who lost their lives was 33-year-old Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who had been with The Associated Press since the beginning of hostilities and recounted the experience of doctors as they tried to save children affected by malnutrition.
International reaction: International condemnation of the hospital attack
The United Nations Secretary-General, as well as Britain and France, and other countries, criticized the attack on the hospital. Replying to a question on the strike, U.S. President Donald Trump first said he had no idea about it and then added: I am not happy about it. The reason, he said, was that he did not want to see it. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also criticised the strike at the hospital.
The attack on Nasser Hospital is a second dramatic outrage in the current war in Gaza, indicating the exposed position of health centers and journalists on the battleground. The death of five journalists in one day is an indication of how risky the job of the media personnel has been in an effort to capture the situation on the ground. The incident poses a critical concern for the protection of hospitals and press freedom in cases of armed conflicts because international condemnation targets the security of these institutions.