Israeli army says it ‘does not target’ journalists, after targeting and killing 5 journalists

The Israeli army carried out a ‘double-tap’ strike on the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Al Jazeera, Reuters, and the Associated Press.

By Tareq S. Hajjaj, Reposted from Mondoweiss, August 25, 2025

The Israeli army killed five journalists in an attack on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Monday, raising the toll of journalists who have been killed since the beginning of the genocide to 246.

On Monday morning (August 25) at 10:05 am local time, the Israeli army targeted the stairwell of the fourth floor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis twice in a “double-tap strike”. The bombings killed 20 people, including five journalists, a civil defense officer, a doctor, and a number of patients who were being treated at the hospital. 

The first bombing killed Palestinian journalist Hussam al-Masri, a photographer working with Reuters. Al-Masri was broadcasting live on Reuters from Nasser Hospital when the first attack took place. The Reuters live video feed from the hospital suddenly shut off at the moment of the initial strike, Reuters footage showed. 

After the bombing, civil defense first responders arrived at the location of the attack to rescue the injured and remove bodies. A number of journalists also arrived to cover the bombing. But shortly after the first responders and journalists arrived, at around 10:25 am, the Israeli army bombed the same location a second time.

The second bombing killed four other journalists, including Muhammad Salama, an Al Jazeera photographer, Maryam Abu Dagga, a contractor with The Associated Press (AP), Moaz Abu Taha, a Reuters and reported NBC contributor, and Ahmad Abu Aziz, a freelance journalist. 

Muhammad Eslayeh, a contributor to Mondoweiss who was at the Nasser Hospital when the attack happened, survived with superficial injuries and described the scenes as “horrifying.”

“The place on the fourth floor [where the attack happened] is high up, and journalists always go there to document what’s happening on the ground. They can observe the bombing in Khan Younis, the tanks when they move to any place,” Eslayeh said.

He added that the place that was targeted was also used by journalists to try and pick up cellular service during Israeli-enforced internet blackouts in the Gaza Strip, further suggesting that it was likely known to the Israeli army that journalists frequent that specific area in the hospital.

Eslayeh and his colleague, Moaz Abu Taha, who was killed, were working together in a different area of the hospital when the first bombing took place. “Moaz took the camera and the mic and rushed to the place to cover the scene. Just as he arrived, along with other journalists and civil defense staff, the army bombed the same place again. I was on the ground floor looking at the scene and saw them getting bombed,” Eslayeh said.

“Moaz was killed in front of my eyes, he was only doing his job and documenting the Israeli massacrers in the hospital.” 

The Gaza health ministry condemned the attack on the Naser Hospital, which it says is the “only operating hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip.” 

Targeting the hospital and killing the medical staff, journalists, and civil defense workers is “a continuation of the systematic destruction of the health system and a continuation of the genocide,” the ministry’s statement said. 

Al Jazeera condemned the killing of its journalists in Gaza, calling the Israeli army “journalist killers” in an article published on its website. 

“Al Jazeera Media Network condemns, in the strongest possible terms, this horrific crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, who have directly targeted and assassinated journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth,” the network said in a statement.

The AP reported on Mariam Dagga’s killing, saying she was a freelance journalist who worked with the agency. “She worked under incredibly difficult circumstances to bring stories from Gaza to the world, particularly coverage of the war’s impact on children,” said Julie Pace, AP’s Executive Editor and Senior Vice President. “We are devastated by her death and urgently seeking more clarity on the strike.”

In a report on the attack, Reuters said Hussam al-Masri, “a Reuters contractor,” and Moaz Abu Taha,“a freelance journalist who worked with several news organizations, including occasionally contributing to Reuters,” were killed, and that photographer Hatem Khaled, “also a Reuters contractor”, was injured. 

In a statement, a Reuters spokesperson said the agency was “devastated” to learn of the attack, and that “we are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem.”

Despite several reports that Abu Taha also freelanced with NBC News, the network has yet to release a statement on his killing or acknowledge their alleged working relationship with the journalist at the time of publication. 

The Israeli army confirmed the targeting of Nasser Hospital in a statement saying that the Chief of the General Staff had instructed to conduct an initial “inquiry” as soon as possible.

“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such. The IDF acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible while maintaining the safety of IDF troops,” the Israeli army posted on X.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also said in a statement that Israel “deeply regretted” what it called “the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza.”

“Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians. The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation,” Netanyahu’s office said. “Our war is with Hamas terrorists. Our only goals are defeating Hamas and bringing our hostages home.”

The statement did not acknowledge the targeted nature of the double-tap strike, which targeted the first responders and journalists after the initial attack. 

The attack on the journalists at Nasser Hospital took place two weeks after the targeted assassination of Al Jazeera staff in Gaza City, including Anas al-Sharif and Muhammad Qreaqa. 

Despite Israeli claims that Israel “values the work of journalists,” an April report by the “Costs of War” Project at Brown University indicates that the number of journalists killed in Gaza by Israel since October 7, 2023, ranges between 147 and 232, which is more than the total number killed in the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the American war in Afghanistan combined. Since that report, the number of journalists who have been killed in Gaza has reached 246.

Israel has also targeted the majority of Gaza’s hospitals, including the Nasser Hospital, several times since October 2023. Hundreds of medical staff in Gaza have been killed, injured, arrested, and tortured to death by Israeli forces.