Israel Kills 5 Palestinian Journalists, Dismissing Global Calls For Press Freedom
HuffPost
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the bombing of Nasser Hospital that killed journalists and medics a "tragic mishap."
Israeli forces killed five Palestinian journalists on Monday in an airstrike on one of the few hospitals remaining in Gaza — an attack carried out despite increasing global condemnation of Israel’s targeting of Palestinian journalists and its ongoing ban on international media from entering the territory.
The Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed at least 20 Palestinians and injured dozens more, including rescuers and medical staff, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The military carried out what’s called a double-tap strike: the first missile hit the hospital’s roof and killed a Reuters journalist during his livestream, followed by a second missile that hit first responders and reporters responding to the initial one.
The four journalists who were initially killed while reporting from Nasser are Hussam al-Masri (Reuters), Maryam Abu Daqqa (Associated Press), Moaz Abu Taha (Reuters) and Mohammad Salama (Al Jazeera). The fifth, Ahmed Abu Aziz (Middle East Eye) died from wounds sustained in the attack. A sixth journalist, Hassan Douhan, was killed by Israeli forces on Monday in a separate incident within Khan Younis.
“Palestinian journalists right now are crying. If I show you my colleagues that are sitting, between the reporting and between their live shifts, they’re trying to hold their tears,” Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary said from Gaza. “They’re trying to find the words to describe what’s going on. Our colleagues were killed live on-air, and there’s no way there are any words to describe what’s happening. Every single day we’re mourning people.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called the attack a “tragic mishap” and said the Israeli government “values” the work of journalists, medical staff and civilians. The statement contradicts the prime minister’s baseless accusations that Palestinian journalists are actually members of Hamas, and ignores the reality that Israeli forces have, according to the UN, killed at least 240 media workers in Gaza since October 2023.
