Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital

[ad_1] Megan Fisher and Emir Nader BBC Information, London and Jerusalem

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0922/live/1b6f1970-81cd-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0922/live/1b6f1970-81cd-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0922/live/1b6f1970-81cd-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0922/live/1b6f1970-81cd-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0922/live/1b6f1970-81cd-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0922/live/1b6f1970-81cd-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0922/live/1b6f1970-81cd-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0922/live/1b6f1970-81cd-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Reuters A man holds a microphone in one hand and a rucksack - both are covered in dust" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters A person holds the gear of journalist Hussam al-Masri who was filming a reside TV feed from Nasser hospital

A double Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza killed 20 individuals together with journalists and well being staff, in response to the retailers they labored for, the World Well being Group and the Hamas-run well being ministry.

At the very least one particular person was killed in an preliminary strike, and others in a second assault minutes later as rescuers and journalists attended the scene at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

The 5 journalists labored for worldwide media retailers, together with the Related Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera and Center East Eye.

Afterward Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to as the incident a "tragic mishap" which Israel "deeply regrets" and stated army authorities have been "conducting an intensive investigation".

How the assault unfolded

The primary strike hit at round 10:00 native time, medical workers at Nasser stated.

There was "mass panic... chaos", stated a British medical skilled working on the hospital, who was treating sufferers within the intensive care unit on the time.

Roughly 10 minutes later there was one other blast in the identical spot, the medical skilled stated, including that medical workers had been planning their escape from the constructing when the second strike hit.

The hospital's emergency division, inpatient ward, and surgical unit was hit, in response to the World Well being Group. Its head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated the emergency staircase was additionally broken.

BBC Confirm has seen footage to verify these timings.

A livestream by Al Ghad TV reveals a number of emergency staff responding to the primary strike close to the highest ground of Nasser Hospital, as quite a few journalists within the background movie what's taking place.

A staircase, the place journalists typically collect to broadcast from, is seen within the video. A strike then straight hits the emergency staff and reporters, sending smoke and rubble within the air. At the very least one physique is seen within the aftermath.

A separate video, filmed from the identical staircase, reveals the aftermath of the strike. Our bodies could be seen on the staircase, as medics reply to the assault.

One other clip, filmed in entrance of the primary entrance of Nasser hospital, reveals a medical employee holding up bloodied garments to the digicam, earlier than an explosion sends individuals operating for canopy.

The British medical skilled described seeing "trails of blood everywhere in the ground" and "absolute scenes of chaos, disbelief, and worry".

Rescuers and journalists amongst useless in double strike on Nasser hospital - Yolande Knell stories

Who have been the victims?

The identities of the slain journalists have been confirmed however we all know little concerning the different fatalities. The Hamas-run well being ministry stated rescuers and sufferers have been killed.

Husam al-Masri labored as a cameraman for Reuters. The information company reported he was killed in a primary strike on the hospital whereas working a reside TV feed for Reuters. Information organisations around the globe together with the BBC have used footage he has taken.

Mariam Dagga, 33, was one of many few feminine journalists protecting the battle in Gaza. She was a freelancer working with the Related Press (AP) who stated she recurrently reported from the hospital. Dagga has a 13-year-old-son, AP stories, who was evacuated from Gaza earlier within the battle to reside together with his father within the United Arab Emirates.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a94c/live/8fca8830-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a94c/live/8fca8830-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a94c/live/8fca8830-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a94c/live/8fca8830-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a94c/live/8fca8830-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a94c/live/8fca8830-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a94c/live/8fca8830-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a94c/live/8fca8830-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="AP A woman wearing a headscarf and a press tabard carried a helmet and camera strap with rubble behind her" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> AP Mariam Dagga

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4067/live/7b555e80-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4067/live/7b555e80-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4067/live/7b555e80-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4067/live/7b555e80-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4067/live/7b555e80-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4067/live/7b555e80-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4067/live/7b555e80-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4067/live/7b555e80-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters A man wears a press vest holding a camera and wears a helmet. He is stood infront of rubble" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters Mohammad Salama

Mohammad Salama labored for Al Jazeera and Center East Eye. Salama was planning his wedding ceremony to a different journalist, Hala Asfour, with the pair hoping to wed after a ceasefire, in response to Al Jazeera.

Ahmed Abu Aziz, 28, labored for Center East Eye (MEE) and dreamed of finding out overseas, in response to its personal reporting. The outlet says he labored as a freelancer based mostly in Khan Younis. Engaged earlier than the battle, MEE says Abu Aziz married his fiancée lawyer Loucy Saleh final summer time.

In line with the outlet, he spoke lately about not having kids "just because I haven't got the energy to ensure them a life". MEE quoted Abu Aziz's reflections on the dire situations he and his spouse discovered themselves in as he spoke candidly about their each day life battling starvation and displacement.

"I avoid making small speak with different journalists round me as a result of I can not bear the considered dropping one other good friend," MEE reported him as saying.

Moaz Abu Taha labored with varied retailers, together with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz only a fortnight in the past filming a video name with journalists that confirmed kids affected by malnutrition at Nasser. Reuters stated they sometimes revealed work by him.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/6822/live/c4ec7b00-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/6822/live/c4ec7b00-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6822/live/c4ec7b00-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/6822/live/c4ec7b00-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/6822/live/c4ec7b00-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6822/live/c4ec7b00-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/6822/live/c4ec7b00-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6822/live/c4ec7b00-81c8-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters A man smiles at the camera wearing a press vest and holding a mobile phone in his hand" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters Moaz Abu Taha

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/5168/live/159a78e0-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/5168/live/159a78e0-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5168/live/159a78e0-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/5168/live/159a78e0-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/5168/live/159a78e0-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/5168/live/159a78e0-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/5168/live/159a78e0-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5168/live/159a78e0-81c9-11f0-b1b7-d5227004453f.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters A man stands to the side of a TV camera watching it as he films. He is stood under an umbrella in Gaza" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters Husam al-Masri

Israel doesn't permit worldwide information organisations, together with the BBC, into Gaza to report freely. Native reporters are relied upon to offer info to the world's media companies.

The Committee to Shield Journalists (CPJ) says greater than 190 journalists have been killed in 22 months of battle, the overwhelming majority Palestinians killed in Israeli assaults.

Two weeks in the past, Israel killed six journalists in a focused assault on one in all them close to Shifa Hospital in Gaza Metropolis, drawing outrage.

What does Israel say?

The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) initially confirmed it carried out a strike within the space of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza.

All through the day, Israeli officers issued a number of statements with little info in them, indicating a scarcity of readability throughout the army concerning the assault however designed to deal with widespread outrage.

On Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's workplace stated Israel "deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred at the moment on the Nasser Hospital in Gaza", including that Israel "values the work of journalists, medical workers, and all civilians" and saying the army was conducting a "thorough investigation".

Nonetheless, the assertion does little to deal with the obvious "double-tap" nature of the assault. The truth that most of those that have been killed have been struck by the second assault at exactly the identical location round 10 minutes later seems clearly intentional.

"Double faucets" are a controversial army tactic which might be designed to maximise casualties by firing on those that reply to the scene of a primary assault.

Statements from media organisations, together with the International Press Affiliation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, accused the Israeli army of a sample of deliberately focusing on journalists all through the battle.

It's unclear if and when Israel will publish outcomes of the inner inquiry it says it has begun.

On Tuesday the IDF revealed what it referred to as preliminary findings, claiming troops had recognized a digicam being utilized by Hamas within the space of the Nasser hospital.

It additionally stated "six of the people killed have been terrorists", claiming one had taken half within the 7 October assaults.

The assertion didn't point out the strikes being carried out so shut collectively or what ammunition induced the blasts.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2e5c/live/e0e94b30-8277-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2e5c/live/e0e94b30-8277-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2e5c/live/e0e94b30-8277-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2e5c/live/e0e94b30-8277-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2e5c/live/e0e94b30-8277-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2e5c/live/e0e94b30-8277-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2e5c/live/e0e94b30-8277-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2e5c/live/e0e94b30-8277-11f0-ab3e-bd52082cd0ae.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A map showing the location of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. The hospital sits within an area coloured red on the map, which shows it is under Israeli military control or subject to evacuation orders." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Wider response to the killings

UN Secretary Common António Guterres strongly condemned the "horrific killings" at Nasser hospital, which he stated "spotlight the acute dangers that medical personnel and journalists face as they perform their very important work amid this brutal battle", and referred to as for a "immediate, and neutral investigation".

The UK referred to as the assaults "horrific" and "utterly indefensible".

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's official spokesperson stated journalists ought to at all times be protected and the assaults illustrated the necessity for a ceasefire.

French President Emmanuel Macron referred to as the strikes "insupportable" and stated civilians and journalists have to be protected. He renewed the decision for humanitarian assist to be allowed inside Gaza and for Israel "to respect worldwide legislation".

Germany's overseas workplace stated it was "shocked".

In the meantime, US President Donald Trump stated he was unaware of the strikes, however when requested for his response he stated he was "not glad about it".

Media freedom teams additionally issued condemnation.

"When and the place is it going to finish? There may be worldwide legislation," stated the pinnacle of Reporters with out Borders Thibaut Bruttin.

"There are ensures that must be granted to journalists protecting conflicts, and none of that appears to be making use of."

The Committee to Shield Journalists stated: "Israel's broadcasted killing of journalists in Gaza continues whereas the world watches and fails to behave firmly".

The International Press Affiliation stated the most recent killings should function a "watershed second" and urged worldwide leaders to behave. It referred to as on Israel to "halt its abhorrent observe of focusing on journalists", including that "too many journalists have been killed by Israel with out justification".