Authorities in Gaza have said that at least 20 Palestinians, including five journalists and a firefighter, were killed and several others wounded on Monday in an Israeli strike on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
Those killed also included Hussam Al Masri, who worked as a photojournalist for the Reuters news agency; Mariam Abu Daqqa, who worked as a journalist with several media outlets, including The Independent Arabic and The Associated Press news agency; Ahmed Abu Aziz, who worked for the Quds Feed Network, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Salama and Reuters’s contributor Moaz Abu Taha.
According to Anadolu Agency, the Israeli military targeted the top floor of the emergency building, known as the “Al-Yassin” floor.
Gaza authorities said the Israeli army hit the fourth floor of one of the complex’s buildings with two air strikes, noting that the second strike occurred as rescue teams arrived to evacuate the wounded and recover the dead.
In a separate attack on journalists, Palestinian journalist Hassan Douhan was shot dead by Israeli forces in Khan Younis, bringing Monday's death toll of reporters to six and the overall number of journalists killed by Israel since October 2023 to 246.
Several countries, rights groups, the UN, the OIC and media organisations have condemned the Israeli attack.
Türkiye
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the Israeli strike, saying the ruthless Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government is relentlessly continuing its brutal assaults to destroy everything that relates to humanity.
Türkiye's presidential communications office also called Israel's latest strikes on Gaza "an attack on press freedom and another war crime."
"Israel, which continues its atrocities without regard for any humanitarian or legal principles, is under the illusion that it can prevent the truth from being revealed through its systematic attacks on journalists," Burhanettin Duran, Turkish Head of Communications, said in a post on X.
US
US President Donald Trump expressed displeasure at a series of Israeli air strikes on Gaza's Nasser Medical Complex.
"I'm not happy about it. I don't want to see it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
UK
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he was horrified by the Israeli strikes.
"Horrified by Israel’s attack on Nasser Hospital. Civilians, healthcare workers and journalists must be protected. We need an immediate ceasefire," Lammy said on X.
Spain
Spain condemned Israel's attack, calling it a "flagrant" and "unacceptable" violation of humanitarian law.
"The Spanish government condemns the Israeli attack on the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of four journalists and innocent civilians," the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Germany
Germany said it was "shocked by the killing of several journalists, rescue workers, and other civilians."
"This attack must be investigated," the foreign ministry said on X, also calling on Israel to "allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza".
Italy
Israel must ensure the safety of journalists in Gaza, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.
"On the subject of the media in Gaza, we have already approved a document together with many other countries. Our position on press freedom remains unchanged,” Tajani said, referring to last week's joint statement by 27 countries.
France
French President Emmanuel Macron has described Israeli strikes as 'intolerable' and urged Tel Aviv to respect international law.
Qatar
Qatar's Foreign Ministry condemned the strike as "a new episode in the ongoing series of heinous crimes" by Israel.
"The occupation's approach of targeting journalists and relief and medical workers requires urgent and decisive international action to provide the necessary protection for civilians and ensure that the perpetrators of these atrocities do not escape punishment," it said in a statement.
Iran
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei condemned the hospital strike as a "brutal war crime, planned and perpetrated by the Zionist regime as part of a plan for the genocide of the Palestinians".
He demanded that the United States be held to account as "complicit" for supporting Israel.
Canada
"Canada is horrified by the Israeli military strike at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, which killed five journalists and many civilians, including rescuers and health officials. Such attacks are unacceptable," the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
UN
A UN official described the Israeli strikes as "absolutely horrifying".
"It's absolutely horrifying," Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Anadolu.
She said seeing the images of the attack on the screens is "unconscionable", reminding her of similar previous attacks on hospitals.
The UN Human Rights Office said "the killing of journalists in Gaza should shock the world" and lead to demands for justice rather than silence.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the office, told Anadolu in a written statement that the deaths of reporters in the enclave highlight the urgent need for accountability.
UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, urged states to take immediate action to halt the “carnage” in Gaza.
OIC
OIC has condemned the killing of journalists and media professionals by Israel in Gaza as a “war crime” and “assault on press freedom”.
EU
EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen has called on Israel to stop killing those “trying to tell the world what's happening in Gaza."
Palestinian Journalists Syndicate:
"The Syndicate affirmed that this heinous crime represents a dangerous escalation in the direct and deliberate targeting of Palestinian journalists and confirms without a shadow of 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."
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) strongly condemned Israeli strikes, calling for immediate UN Security Council action to halt these killings.
The international press organisation stated that five Palestinian journalists were "deliberately targeted" by the Israeli military.
Foreign Press Association
The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem called for an "immediate explanation" from the Israeli military and called for it "to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists".
Doctors Without Borders
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was "heartbroken" by the death in the strike of a freelance photographer who had previously worked for it, Mariam Abu Daqqa.
"As Israel continues to shun international law, the only witnesses to their genocidal campaign are deliberately being targeted. It must stop now," it said.
