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Scenes. Published by IMEMC News

People and rescuers work to recover the body of Palestinian cameraman Hussam al-Masri after he was killed along with other journalists and people in Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Monday. Credit: Hatem Khaled/ REUTERS Published by Haaretz

Mariam Dagga, a Palestinian journalist who freelanced for AP since the start of the war, stands in front of cameras in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip in January. Credit: AFP/BASHAR TALEB. Published by Haaretz

A journalist holds the blood-covered camera belonging to Palestinian AP freelance photojournalist Mariam Dagga, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. Credit: AFP/-. Published by Haaretz

A man holds the equipment used by Palestinian cameraman Hussam al-Masri in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, earlier in Monday.Credit: Hatem Khaled/ REUTERS
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by IMEMC News
Aug 26, 2025

New information has emerged about the Israeli bombing of the Nasser Hospital in a ‘double tap’ strike of two bombs spaced 15 minutes apart on Monday morning.

Investigative journalist Younis Tirawi uncovered that the Israeli military perpetrated the massacre after being informed by an Israeli OSINT enthusiast named Rafael Hayun about his suspicion of a camera being installed on the 4th floor of the hospital.

The suspicious object was in fact a camera used by Reuters and other media teams for live broadcasts from Khan Younis.

The Sayeret Golani unit received the information which was taken by IDF Lt. Col. Bar Veakart to order the 36th Division to shell the hospital twice. Sayeret Golani is the same unit responsible for the killing of 16 aid workers in March.

Tirawi found that Reuters had aired live coverage only four days prior from the exact spot. The camera was simply covered in white to protect the equipment from heat.

In the English-language media, Israeli officials claimed the double-tap strike was a ‘mistake’ by a tank, but in fact the Israeli airforce fired a fuel-propelled, precision-guided missile, then followed up with a second one fifteen minutes later.

In the Hebrew media inside Israel, however, the same Israeli officials that claimed a ‘mistake’ to foreign outlets gave a different account, saying that their attack on Nasser Hospital was deliberate, describing it as a “terrorist headquarters” and boasting about “eliminating” people inside, including those they claim were “disguised as journalists” (they were, in fact, credentialed, respected journalists from a number of outlets).

In fact, the target of their attack wasn’t a ‘battlefield’, as the Israeli officials claimed in Hebrew media, it was a medical complex filled with the wounded, reporters, and first responders.

Maryam Abu Daqqa, one of the assassinated journalists, is seen here in the same location, the media hub in Nasser Hospital, in June, along with other journalists, trying to catch a network signal to post their reports:

A video showing some of the work of Maryam Abu Daqqa, who sent her husband and young son to evacuate Gaza, but remained to do her duty as a journalist, only to be assassinated by Israeli forces at Nasser Hospital: [See video at IMEMC News Source link]

Palestinian journalist Abdelrahman Alkahlout on Tuesday posted a video on his social media highlighting the importance of Nasser Hospital for journalists working in Khan Younis.

“Since the beginning of the war, I have relied on this spot at Nasser Medical Complex as the only window to access the internet,” Alkahlout said.

“Today, this place was deliberately targeted an attempt to silence our voices and stop us from documenting what is happening in Gaza,” he added.
[See video at IMEMC News Source Link]

Just before the bombing of the journalists, Milena, a Bulgarian anesthesiologist at Nasser Medical Complex, was interviewed by one of the journalists, sharing the hardest moments she faces amid famine and siege, describing how the lack of food endangers patients’ lives and their response to treatment: [See video at IMEMC News Source Link]

This video shows the ‘double tap’ – a second strike targeting rescue workers and journalists that came to the aid of those killed and injured in the first strike: [See video at IMEMC News Source Link]

From inside the hospital: an injured journalist’s camera documents the second bombing at Nasser Hospital: [See video at IMEMC News Source Link]

Full list of those killed in the Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital on Monday:

Maryam Riyad Muhammad Abu Farhana Abu Dagga (journalist)
Moaz Abu Taha (journalist)
Muhammad Saber Ibrahim Salama (journalist – Middle East Eye)
Husam Atiya Abdurahman Al-Masri (journalist)
Imad Abdulhakim Ali Al-Shaer (firefighter)
Muhammad Mansour Jumua Al-Ajili (nurse)
Ahmad Muhammad Suleiman Abu Is’haq
Hisham Tayseer Ibrahim Quweider
Muhammad Mahmoud Ismail Al-Habibi
Salahuddin Yusuf Mohsen Barbakh
Jum’a Khaled Jum’a Al-Najjar
Muhammad Ahmad Salem Abu Haddaf
Ahmad Hazem Ahmad Shaheen
Ayman Mustafa Hamdan Fseifes
Abdullah Ahmad Amer
Ahmad Abu Aziz (journalist)
Muhammad Jalal Muhammad Abu Anza
Tahreer Adel Abu Jamii
Yusuf Sameer Abu Latifa
Omar Kamal Abu Teim
It is worth mentioning that the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released on Wednesday video footage on Tuesday showing a carefully orchestrated ambush in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, that reportedly killed five Israeli soldiers and injured around twenty others.

The footage, aired by Al Jazeera, captures the targeting of an Israeli unit with two explosive devices on the evening of July 7, in the agricultural area north of Beit Hanoun, near the Erez crossing.

Al-Qassam stated that the operation was part of its “David’s Stones” campaign, launched in direct response to Israel’s military offensive known as “Gideon’s Chariots.”

The video documents Israeli forces advancing toward a pre-rigged ambush site, where the first device detonates, followed by graphic scenes of casualties and audible distress among the troops.

A second, more powerful explosive was then deployed against a rescue unit attempting to extract the wounded.

A senior Al-Qassam commander told Al Jazeera that the ambush occurred in the agricultural district adjacent to the Erez crossing.

He noted that two types of explosives—television-triggered and thunder-type—had been planted twelve hours prior along a route anticipated to be used by Israeli forces.

According to the source, the site was strategically rigged with anti-personnel devices designed to strike both the reconnaissance team and the rescue unit.

The Beit Hanoun ambush is regarded as one of the most tactically sophisticated and high-impact operations carried out by Palestinian resistance forces since October 2023. The Al-Qassam Brigades concluded the footage with the statement: “The battle is not yet decided.”

Separately, last month, a military correspondent for an ultra-Orthodox Jewish radio station released a video purportedly showing the same ambush.

The clip depicts the “Netzah Yehuda” battalion being hit during a military maneuver under the command of the Northern Brigade of the Gaza Division.

The footage shows Israeli soldiers falling to the ground, others dragging the wounded, and sustained gunfire from both light and heavy automatic weapons.

The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported three additional deaths due to starvation in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of hunger-related fatalities in Gaza to 303 since October 7, 2023. Among the dead are 117 children, victims of a deepening famine driven by Israel’s blockade and systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 62,819 Palestinians, including more than 18,592 children and 12,400 women. The number of wounded has reached 158,629, the majority of whom are women and children.

Thousands remain missing, many presumed buried beneath the rubble of bombed homes, collapsed streets, and devastated alleys that remain inaccessible to rescue teams due to ongoing airstrikes and widespread destruction.

The humanitarian collapse continues to accelerate, with Gaza’s infrastructure decimated, medical services overwhelmed, and food insecurity reaching catastrophic levels. The Health Ministry warns that the death toll will continue to rise as starvation spreads and bombardment persists.

UPDATED FROM:

Aug 25, 2025 at 22:19

On Monday, an Israeli bomb killed 20 civilians and injured dozens, when the Israeli occupation forces bombed the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis.

The journalists killed were identified as Palestine TV cameraman Hossam Al-Masry, Al Jazeera cameraman Mohamed Salama, Mariam Abu Daqqa, Moaz Abu Taha, and Ahmed Abu Aziz, in addition to the injury of a number of journalists.

A number of ambulance and civil defense crews were also killed in a ‘double tap’ bombing while evacuating the wounded.

Two days ago, Palestine TV cameraman Khaled Al-Madhoun was killed in a targeted assassination by Israeli forces, following an attack on August 11th, when Israeli forces bombed the press tent at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza assassinating the most prominent Palestinian journalist in Gaza, Anas al-Sharif and a number of other journalists in a targeted bombing.

Israel admitted approving the attack on Nasser Hospital that killed 21 Palestinians, including five journalists and civil defense crews who were aiding victims of earlier shelling on the hospital. They were struck again while reporting, confirming the Israeli occupation army’s use of the “double tap” tactic to kill as many Palestinians as possible in a single attack.

Mohammad Salama, an Al Jazeera cameraman and one of the journalists massacred in Israel’s bombing of Nasser Hospital today, had repeatedly postponed his wedding, hoping for a ceasefire so he could finally marry his love, whom he met during the genocide.

Weeks before his killing, his fiancée was asked by journalist Wa’ad Abo Zaher, “Why does love insist on coming to us in times of war?” to which she replied with these touching yet sorrowful words: "If nothing can save us from death, let love at least save us from life."

Palestinian journalists in Gaza held a protest and press event at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis to condemn the horrific massacre by occupation forces that killed 21 Palestinians, including five journalists.

Quds News reports:

The Health Ministry in Gaza said the army first hit the hospital’s fourth floor. Minutes later, it struck medical teams who rushed to help the wounded. Nasser Hospital is the only functioning medical center in southern Gaza. Hospital officials said dozens were also injured.

In addition to the journalists, other victims included Mohammad Al-Habibi, a sixth-year medical student, and Imad Al-Shaer, a civil defense firefighter and father of three.

Israeli soldiers claimed that there was a camera that was used by Hamas to monitor military movements. They fired a second shell to “confirm the hit.” That strike landed on rescue teams and doctors treating the injured.

Senior Israeli officers questioned this account.

The Israeli army said the Chief of Staff ordered a preliminary investigation, claiming that the army “does not target journalists”.

The Gaza Health Ministry condemned the attack. “The occupation forces’ targeting of the hospital today and the killing of medical personnel, journalists, and civil defense personnel is a continuation of the systematic destruction of the health system and the continuation of genocide,” it said.

Footage from the hospital showed journalists standing on the stairs before they were hit in the second strike.

Nasser Hospital is struggling to cope. It has more than 1,000 patients but only 340 beds. Many lie in corridors or on the floor.

The Gaza Media Office said the number of journalists killed since the genocide began has now reached 245. It stated that Israel is carrying out systematic assassinations of Palestinian reporters.

The Palestinian Journalists Union said that the Israeli occupation army committed a new horrific massacre against the Palestinian press, adding to its criminal record.

The Union stated: “In a new crime added to the bloody record of the Israeli occupation, and embodying its clear intention to target the free voice, the witnessing camera, and the knights of the word, the occupation army committed a horrific massacre against Palestinian media crews, in which four fellow journalists were killed who were killed while carrying out their professional duty in covering the ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip.”.

The Journalists Union stressed that this heinous crime represents a dangerous escalation in the direct and deliberate targeting of Palestinian journalists, and confirms without a doubt that the occupation is waging an open war on free media, with the aim of terrorizing journalists and preventing them from carrying out their professional mission of exposing its crimes to the world.

The Palestinian Journalists Union held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for this crime, and demanded that its leaders be held accountable as war criminals, calling on international media institutions to break their silence and take urgent action to protect Palestinian journalists who are targeted daily in the field.

They called on the international community, the United Nations, and the International Federation of Journalists to move from verbal condemnation to taking practical and deterrent steps to stop the systematic killing machine against journalists in Gaza.

The union stressed that the continued international silence on these crimes represents unacceptable complicity and partnership in shedding the blood of innocents, stressing that the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate is pursuing everyone involved in these crimes.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated, “We hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the deliberate killing of Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip. This crime adds to the long list of massacres and violations committed against our people. We call on UN agencies and the international community to urgently act to protect journalists and hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes.”
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Targeting Truth: Israel's Killing of Gazan Journalists in Nasser Hospital Is No 'Mishap'

The IDF said it 'regrets harm to uninvolved individuals and doesn't target journalists as such.' As such? This qualification likely points to the fact that journalists have been targeted by Israel in the past, just not, apparently, this time

by Allison Kaplan Sommer for Haaretz
Aug 25, 2025

Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis is the last functioning hospital in the area, where doctors are trying to treat malnourished and starving Palestinians, including children. In addition to patients and medical staff, journalists are also operating in the hospital, sharing images of the suffering inside its walls as Israel attempts to discredit claims of starvation in the Strip.

One such journalist was Mariam Dagga, a 33-year-old freelance photographer working for The Associated Press, who based herself at the hospital following doctors as they attempted to save starving children, the news agency said.

It was at this very hospital that the Israeli army fired two tank shells on Monday, killing at least 20 Palestinians. Among them were five journalists, including Mariam Dagga.

The Israel Defense Forces said the strike targeted a camera that ground forces believed was tracking Israeli troop movements. Footage shows a second strike on the same site, killing medical staff who rushed to treat the wounded, along with the journalists covering the incident.

Within the army itself, this explanation is being questioned. Leaks from senior military officials to journalists suggest something went awry for a strike like this to be carried out in a busy, crowded medical facility – the only functional hospital in south Gaza – without authorization from higher up.

Even less convincing than the "Hamas camera" explanation was the IDF's initial statement in response: The army said it "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such."

As such? This qualification likely points to the fact that journalists have, indeed, been targeted by the IDF in the past. The journalists killed on Monday were not even the first to be killed at Nasser Hospital. In May, the IDF assassinated Hassan Aslih at Nasser, a Gazan photojournalist who entered Israel on October 7, calling him a "terrorist acting in the guise of a journalist."

Earlier this month, Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif was killed in a strike on a media tent in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City. He was targeted over the IDF's claim that documents showed al-Sharif headed a Hamas terrorist cell and was responsible for planning rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

And while al-Sharif was the army's target, four other journalists who were in the tent with him were killed in the strike too. Similarly, in the latest attack, even if the army's suspicion of a camera somehow justified an initial decision to shell a medical facility full of patients, the second strike, caught live on camera, hit a stairwell where medical staff and five journalists clearly stood.

These strikes bring the death toll of journalists in the war in Gaza to 197, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The organization says that more press workers have been killed in this conflict than in the past three years, worldwide.

Hours later and after much international outrage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement of his own, reiterating that the army is conducting a "thorough investigation." He said he "deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today," adding that Israel "values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians," though he may as well have just said, "and all civilians ... as such."

There are now five fewer journalists who can share images and stories of the children starving in Nasser Hospital, "as such." Perhaps one day, Netanyahu will also declare that a "tragic mishap."