Israeli shelling of a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip killed five journalists on Monday, three of whom worked for Al Jazeera, Reuters and the Associated Press, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing "regret" over the "tragic accident."
The raids, which claimed the lives of another 15 people according to civil protection in the Gaza Strip, were condemned by the UN and the governments of countries such as France, Germany and Britain, which called for journalists to be "protected".
In retaliation for the unprecedented raid on October 7, 2023, on Israeli territory by the military arm of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Israel has been conducting operations for the past 23 months that have caused incalculable damage in the Gaza Strip and humanitarian catastrophe.
Al Jazeera, a television network of the emirate of Qatar, Reuters, a Canadian-British news agency, and the Associated Press, an American news agency, which lost a colleague in the attacks on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis yesterday, expressed shock and sadness.
"Israel deeply regrets the tragic accident that occurred at Nasser Hospital," Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement yesterday, assuring an army investigation. "The war we are waging is against Hamas terrorists. Our legitimate goals are to defeat Hamas and bring our hostages home."
AFP footage immediately after the strikes showed smoke rising into the sky and debris outside the hospital. Palestinians rushed to help the victims, carrying bloodied bodies inside the health facility.
Reuters explained that at the moment of the first strike, his colleague broadcast a live video feed from the hospital, which was abruptly interrupted.
At their funerals, crowds carried the bodies of the dead journalists, wrapped in funeral shrouds, with their bulletproof vests that read "Press" on them.
The Israeli armed forces acknowledged that they carried out a strike "in the area of the Nasser hospital" and added that the target was not "journalists as such."
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), some 200 journalists have lost their lives in this war.
According to civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal, the hospital was hit twice, first by an unmanned aerial vehicle, then by airstrikes as victims were being evacuated.
According to the civil protection, at least 13 other people were killed by Israeli fire elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, 75% of which is controlled by the Israeli army, according to Israeli sources.
In addition to the bombings, the population of the enclave is facing the risk of famine, according to the UN.
Given the restrictions imposed on the media by Israel and the difficulties of access to the field, Agence France-Presse says it is unable to verify the accounts and information reported by either side. Foreign journalists are not allowed to enter the Gaza Strip and international media rely on Palestinian journalists.
Reuters reported that its staff was "shocked by the death of Hossam al-Masri and the injury of another colleague, Hatem Khaled," in the hospital bombing.
The Associated Press expressed "shock and sadness" at the death of Mariam Daga, a 33-year-old freelance photojournalist who worked with him.
Al Jazeera condemned the death of journalist, photographer and cameraman Mohammad Salama, accusing the Israeli army of intending to "silence the truth."
Two more Palestinian journalists, Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmad Abu Aziz, were killed in the shelling in Nasser, according to a Palestinian journalists' union. The Palestinian media workers' union also announced that yesterday another journalist - the sixth in a day -, Hassan Duhan, was killed by Israeli fire in Al-Mawasi (south).
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), denounced the "inaction of the world."
Ravina Samdasani, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on the international community to take action, reminding that journalists and hospitals should never be targeted.
The Israeli government's security council is expected to meet tonight in Jerusalem under the chairmanship of Mr. Netanyahu, an official source said. The Families Forum, the main representative body for the hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip for the 690th day, has called for a day of national mobilization on the sidelines of the meeting.
In the raid by Hamas' military wing on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, 1.219 people, most of them civilians, were killed on the Israeli side, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people who were kidnapped that day, 49 are still being held, but 27 of them have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
Large-scale Israeli military retaliatory operations have since killed at least 62.744 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the majority of them civilians, according to the most recent figures from the Hamas government's Health Ministry, which are considered reliable by the UN.
Source: protothema.gr
