Israeli airstrikes on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis have killed at least 15 people, including four journalists and a civil defence worker, according to Palestinian health officials and international media outlets.
The hospital was struck twice in succession on Sunday. Witnesses said the first blast hit the rooftop, killing one journalist, before a second, more powerful strike devastated the hospital’s reception area. Patients, medical staff and displaced civilians had crowded into the facility, and the second strike came just as rescue workers and journalists rushed in after the initial blast.
Those killed include:
- Mohammad Salama, cameraman for Al Jazeera
- Hossam Al-Masri, Reuters photojournalist
- Mariam Abu Daqqa, freelancer for The Independent and Associated Press
- Moaz (Muath) Abu Taha, journalist for NBC
- One unnamed civil defence worker
At least one journalist, Hatem Omar, was seriously injured.
Reuters reported that its live video feed from the hospital, operated by Al-Masri, cut out at the exact moment of the first strike. Both Reuters and the Associated Press have since confirmed that Al-Masri and Abu Daqqa were contracted contributors.
Dr Saber al-Asmar, speaking from inside Nasser Hospital, described scenes of panic and devastation: “We were doing our jobs with shortages of equipment and medicine, when this massive strike came. The operation room was full of medical students, doctors and nurses. Patients are now running away from hospitals in fear.”
The hospital, one of the last partially functioning facilities in southern Gaza, has been sheltering thousands of displaced civilians. The strikes, say aid groups, have left patients traumatised and raised fears that people will abandon medical centres that should be protected under international law.
Neither the Israeli military nor the prime minister’s office has commented on the incident.
The attack comes amid warnings from the UN and rights groups that Gaza’s health system has collapsed under the weight of months of bombardment. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says the Gaza war is the deadliest conflict for media workers in modern history, with nearly 200 journalists and media staff killed since October 2023.