BSS
  25 Aug 2025, 16:54

Four journalists among 15 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital: civil defence

Photo: Collected

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Aug 25, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gaza's civil 
defence agency said four journalists were among at least 15 people killed 
Monday when Israeli strikes hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said "the death toll is 15, including four 
journalists and one civil defence member", after strikes hit Nasser Hospital 
in Khan Yunis.

According to media watchdogs, around 200 journalists have been killed in 
nearly two years of war between Israel and Hamas.

When asked by AFP about strikes targeting a building at the medical complex, 
the Israeli military said it was checking the reports.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said a group of reporters had "been 
martyred in the line of journalistic duty, as a result of the Israeli bombing 
that targeted them at Nasser Hospital".

In a statement, it named the reporters as photojournalists Hossam Al-Masri, 
Mohammad Salama and Mariam Dagga, and journalist Moaz Abu Taha.

A spokesperson for Qatar-based TV network Al Jazeera on Monday confirmed its 
photojournalist and cameraman Mohammad Salama was killed in the attack on the 
medical complex.

The three others worked with some Palestinian and international outlets, 
according to AFP journalists.

Associated Press said Mariam Dagga was a freelancer for the news agency but 
was not on an assignment with the media outlet when she was killed.

Reuters said that one of the journalists killed and one of those injured were 
contractors for the news agency.

The civil defence's Bassal said an Israeli explosive drone targeted a 
building at Nasser Hospital, followed by an air strike as the wounded were 
being evacuated.

- Smoke, bloodied bodies -

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP 
is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil 
defence agency or the Israeli military.

AFP footage from the immediate aftermath of the attack showed smoke filling 
the air and debris from the blast on the floor outside the hospital.

Palestinians rushed to help the victims, carrying bloodied bodies and severed 
body parts into the medical complex. One body could be seen dangling from the 
top floor of the targeted building as a man screamed below.

A woman wearing medical scrubs and a white coat was among the injured, 
carried into the hospital on a stretcher with a heavily bandaged leg and 
blood all over her clothes.

Before the latest killings, media advocacy groups the Committee to Protect 
Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders said around 200 journalists 
had been killed in the Gaza war.

Earlier this month, four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers were killed in 
an Israeli air strike outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, prompting 
widespread condemnation.

The Israeli military alleged that Anas al-Sharif -- a prominent Al Jazeera 
correspondent killed in the strike -- headed a Hamas "terrorist cell" and was 
"responsible for advancing rocket attacks" against Israelis.

The CPJ slammed that strike, saying journalists should never be targeted in 
war.

"Journalists are civilians. They must never be targeted in war. And to do so 
is a war crime," Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of the CPJ, told AFP at the 
time.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which 
resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP 
tally based on official figures.

Israel's offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them 
civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza 
that the United Nations considers reliable.