By T N Ashok
NEW YORK: The western news world has been outraged over the killing of five journalists in a tank fire in a hospital in Khan Younis in Gaza on Monday as Israel faced an unprecedented wave of condemnation after a pair of back-to-back strikes on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital. Five journalists, several medical staff, and first responders, were killed in what international media watchdogs are calling one of the deadliest assaults on the press in recent memory.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 20 people were killed and dozens more wounded when Israeli forces fired two tank shells within minutes of each other at the hospital complex in Khan Younis. The first strike hit the hospital’s fourth floor, shattering a balcony often used by reporters for panoramic shots of the city. As rescue workers and journalists rushed to aid the injured, a second strike detonated nearby, engulfing the stairwell in smoke and debris.
The victims included Mohammad Salama (Al Jazeera), Hussam Al-Masri (Reuters contractor), Mariam Abu Dagga (Associated Press contributor), and freelancers Moath Abu Taha and Ahmed Abu Aziz. Gaza’s Civil Defense said one of its rescuers was also killed, while hospital officials confirmed the deaths of four medical staff.
Abu Dagga, 31, had been profiled by CNN last year for her fearless coverage. “We are covering the war on Gaza because this is our journalistic duty,” she said at the time. Her 12-year-old son had been evacuated earlier in the conflict; colleagues described her as “the last voice reporting from inside Gaza’s collapsing hospitals.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conceded the strikes killed journalists and first responders, calling the incident a “tragic mishap.” The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) initially claimed they had targeted a Hamas surveillance camera on the hospital roof. But in a rare admission, an Israeli security official confirmed forces fired two shells—one at the camera, the second at rescue crews.
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, an IDF spokesman, insisted Israel “does not intentionally target civilians” but acknowledged the “extremely complex reality” of urban warfare in Gaza. An internal inquiry has been ordered.
Reactions were swift and severe: The Foreign Press Association in Israel called the strikes “a watershed moment,” accusing Israel of systematically killing journalists while barring foreign reporters from independent access to Gaza. UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack and demanded an “impartial investigation.”Doctors Without Borders denounced the bombing of what it said was the last partially functioning hospital in southern Gaza. Nations including Canada, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia issued statements of condemnation. Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, said the attack amounted to “silencing the last remaining voices reporting about children dying silently amid famine.”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 192 journalists had been killed in Gaza before Monday’s strike. CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg accused Israel of “deliberately targeting a Reuters camera position” and said the “double-tap” strike constituted “unlawful killings, war crimes.”
This is not the first time Israeli strikes have decimated newsrooms. Two weeks ago, prominent Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif was killed in Gaza City after the IDF accused him—without evidence—of being a Hamas operative. Al Jazeera condemned both incidents as deliberate assassinations in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
For Israel, the killings risk deepening its isolation. Even allies have grown uncomfortable. European diplomats in Washington privately described the incident as “untenable,” warning that Israel’s reliance on the “Hamas shield” defense is eroding international patience. For Palestinians, the deaths reinforce the sense that not even hospitals—let alone those documenting the war—are safe. Hamas called the strikes a “cowardly effort to silence truth-tellers.”
Meanwhile, in Washington, President Donald Trump predicted the Gaza war would end “within two to three weeks,” though he offered no evidence. Families of Israeli hostages greeted his remarks with cautious optimism, but analysts noted that Monday’s events only underline the widening gulf between Israel’s military conduct and the expectations of its international partners.
Media groups warn the killings could mark a turning point in the conflict. By striking journalists in a hospital—a space ostensibly protected under international law—Israel risks crossing into territory widely seen as constituting war crimes.“This was not collateral damage,” one European diplomat said. “It was a double strike aimed at those who ran toward danger. If that becomes normalized, then there is no safe space left in Gaza—and no independent witnesses to tell the world what is happening.”
The Gaza war has become the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), as of mid-August 2025, around 184–189 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the war began on October 7, 2023.The United Nations and Costs of War Project report the figure as high as 242, with some aggregations estimating up to 274 journalists killed by August 11, 2025.CPJ’s July 2025 data records 186 journalists and media workers killed, including 178 Palestinian, 2 Israeli, and 6 Lebanese.
Earlier in the conflict, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) estimated that 103 journalists were killed in the first five months alone. By the end of 2024, CPJ reported at least 134 journalist fatalities; by September 2024, that number had grown to 116 in Gaza alone. To put it into perspective: from October 2023 to mid-2025, on average over 13 journalists a month were killed.
Journalists in Gaza face extraordinary—and often deadly—risks: They operate amid near-daily airstrikes, famine, collapsing infrastructure, and mass displacement. Many are local reporters—the only ones allowed into Gaza. Without foreign correspondents present, the burden falls on Palestinian journalists to document the crisis. Lack of safety protections, equipment, and medical support compounds the danger.
As CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah said: “Since October 7, 2023, Palestinian journalists have been slaughtered with impunity, while the world watches… Journalists cannot carry out their work—let alone survive.”Mistaken for Combatants: Cameras or Rocket Launchers?
A few tragic incidents highlight how journalists—armed only with cameras—have been wrongly identified as threats: Several journalists were wearing clearly marked press vests and working in non-combat zones when killed. In one instance, a journalist was struck despite no fighting nearby. Reporters working from rooftops or elevated positions (common for getting a wide view) are sometimes confused with rocket- or mortar-launching positions due to the similarity in posture and the camera’s silhouette. While testimonies vary, the frequent misidentification—whether accidental or not—has fueled calls for better protection for journalists in conflict zones. (IPA Service)
