Double Israeli strike at Gaza Hospital

A double Israeli strike in a Gaza hospital killed 20 people, including journalists and health workers, according to the points of sale for whom they worked, the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas.

At least one person was killed in a first strike, and others in a second attack a few minutes later while the rescuers and journalists attended the stage at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

The five journalists worked for international media, including the Associated Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye.

Later Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the “tragic mishap” incident that Israel “deeply regrets” and said that the military authorities “put an in -depth investigation”.

The first strike struck around 10:00 am local time, said Nasser’s medical staff.

There was “a massive panic … Chaos”, said a British health professional working in the hospital, who treated patients from the intensive care unit at the time.

About 10 minutes later, there was another explosion in the same place, said the health professional, adding that the medical staff had planned their escape from the building when the second strike struck.

The hospital emergency service, the district of hospitalized patients and the surgical unit were affected, according to the World Health Organization. His chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the emergency staircase had also been damaged.

BBC Verify has seen images to confirm these schedules.

A livestream by Al Ghad TV shows several emergency workers responding to the first strike near Nasser hospital, as a number of journalists in the background, which is happening.

A staircase, where journalists often meet to broadcast, is visible in the video. A strike then directly strikes emergencies and journalists, sending smoke and rubble to the air. At least one body is visible the next day.

A separate video, filmed with the same staircase, shows the consequences of the strike. Bodies can be seen on the stairs because doctors respond to the attack.

Another clip, filmed in front of the main entrance to Nasser hospital, shows a medical worker holding bloody clothes on the camera, before an explosion sends people to hide.

The British medicine professional described see “blood paths everywhere on the ground” and “absolute scenes of chaos, disbelief and fear”.

The identity of killed journalists has been confirmed, but we know little about other deaths. The Ministry of Health managed by Hamas said that rescuers and patients had been killed.

Husam Al-Masri worked as a cameraman for Reuters. The news agency reported that he had been killed during a first strike at the hospital when he operated a live television flow for Reuters. Press organizations around the world, including BBC, have used images it has taken.

Mariam Dagga33, was an independent journalist working with the Associated Press (AP) who said that she had regularly reported the hospital. One of the AP regional publishers, Abby Sewell, said that Dagga left behind a son who was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war.

Mohammad Salama worked for Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye. Salama planned her marriage to another journalist, Hala Asfour, with the pair hoping to get married after a cease-fire, according to Al Jazeera.

Ahmed Abu Aziz worked for the Middle East Eye, according to his own reports. The point of sale says that he worked on an independent basis and was based in Khan Younis.

Moaz Abu Taha Worked with various points of sale, including the Israeli newspaper Haaretz there are just about fifteen films filming a video call with journalists who have shown children suffering from malnutrition in Nasser. Reuters said they had sometimes published work on him.

Israel does not allow international press organizations, including BBC, in Gaza to report freely. Local journalists are invoked to provide information to world media agencies.

The Committee to protect journalists (CPJ) claims that more than 190 journalists were killed in 22 months of war, the vast majority of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks.

Two weeks ago, Israel killed six journalists in a targeted attack on one of them near the Shifa hospital in Gaza City, attracting indignation.

Israeli defense forces (FDI) initially confirmed that it had strikes in the Nasser hospital area in southern Gaza.

Throughout the day, Israeli officials have published several statements with little information, indicating a lack of clarity within the military about the attack, but designed to treat generalized indignation.

On Monday evening, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel “deeply regretted the tragic misadventure that has occurred today at Nasser Hospital in Gaza”, adding that Israel “values ​​the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians” and claiming that the soldiers were doing an “in -depth investigation”.

However, the declaration is not much to tackle the apparent nature of “double blow” of the attack. The fact that most of those who were killed were struck by the second attack in the same place about 10 minutes later seems clearly intentional.

“Double Taps” are a controversial military tactic designed to maximize the victims by pulling those who respond to the scene of a first attack.

Declarations of media organizations, including the foreign press association in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, accused the Israeli army of an intentionally targeting of journalists throughout the war.

It is not clear if and when Israel will publish the results of the internal investigation, he says that he started.

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, firmly condemned the “horrible killings” to the Nasser hospital, which, according to him, highlight the extreme risks that medical staff and journalists face when they put their vital work in the middle of this brutal conflict “and called for a” rapid impartial investigation “.

British Foreign Minister David Lammy said he was “horrified” and called for an immediate cease-fire.

French President Emmanuel Macron qualified “intolerable” strikes and said that civilians and journalists should be protected. He renewed the call for humanitarian aid to be authorized in Gaza and Israel “to respect international law”.

The German Ministry of Affairs said it was “shocked”.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he was not aware of strikes, but when he was asked for his reaction, he said he was “not satisfied with this”.

Media freedom groups also published a conviction.

“When and where is it going to end? Is there international law,” said the chief of journalists without borders Thibaut Bruttin.

“There are guarantees that should be granted to journalists covering conflicts, and none of this seems to apply.”

The committee to protect journalists said: “The murder broadcast by Israel of journalists in Gaza continues while the world is watching and does not reach firmly”.

The association of the foreign press said that the last murders should serve as a “moment of the watershed” and urged international leaders to act. He called Israel to “stop his odious practice to target journalists”, adding that “too many journalists were killed by Israel without justification”.