An Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least 21 people, including five journalists, medics, and rescue workers. The attack was a double-tap: the first strike hit the top floor of a hospital building and minutes later a second projectile struck as journalists and rescuers climbed an external staircase. The dead included journalists from Al Jazeera, Reuters, and the Associated Press. The strike occurred as Israel widened its offensive into densely populated urban areas, further imperiling civilians and a health system already severely damaged. The attack prompted widespread international condemnation from press freedom groups and rights advocates. The strike reflects a pattern of attacks on hospitals and media workers during the nearly two-year assault.
Israel has struck Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 21 people, including five journalists, as well as medics and rescue workers, in the latest deliberate attack on civilians and the besieged enclave's decimated health system. Monday's attack, which killed journalists who worked for Al Jazeera, the Reuters and Associated Press (AP) news agencies, and others, was among the deadliest of a multitude of Israeli strikes that have targeted both hospitals and media workers over the course of the nearly two-year genocidal assault.
The first strike of the double-tap attack, where one strike is followed by a second soon after, hit the top floor of a building at Nasser Hospital. Minutes later, as journalists and rescuers in orange vests rushed up an external staircase, a second projectile hit, said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, the head of the paediatrics department. Among the journalists killed were Al Jazeera's Mohammad Salama, Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri, Mariam Abu Daqqa, a freelance journalist working for AP at the time, as well as Ahmed Abu Aziz and Moaz Abu Taha. Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said the attack has sent the entire area into an absolute sense of chaos and panic. Not only for passers-by or people living in the vicinity of the hospital, but for the patients themselves, who are receiving treatment in one of the areas that must be protected under international humanitarian law, Abu Azzoum said.
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