Israel’s “tragic mishap” kills more Palestinian journalists – War on Gaza Day 689

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Israel’s “tragic mishap” kills more Palestinian journalists – War on Gaza Day 689
Israel killed 5 journalists in its attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on August 25, 2025: (L-R) Maryam Abu Daqqa, Mohamad Salama, Ahmed Abu Aziz, Hossam Al-Masri, and Muath Abu Taha (Screengrab/Al Jazeera)

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

Israeli forces killed at least 89 Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, including at least 17 aid seekers. In total, Israel has killed at least 2,140 aid seekers since May 27, 2025 (learn about aid seekers here).

Among the dead were a Palestinian couple and their three children in Mawasi al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis, and 6 journalists.

The total known number of Palestinians who have died from malnutrition stands at 303, including 117 children.

For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Monday, go here. 

Severely malnourished children receive medical treatment at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on August 20, 2025.
Severely malnourished children receive medical treatment at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on August 20, 2025. (Hassan Jedi – Anadolu Agency)

GAZA NEWS:

(For some basic info on the Palestine-Israel conflict, go here. For more critical context, skim this, this, and this.To read about a remarkable but underreported, 20-month-long peaceful protest in Gaza against Israel, go here.)

Israel kills five journalists in hospital massacre, fatally shoots a sixth, as Netanyahu claims to “value” their work

At least 15 Palestinians, including five journalists, were killed on 25 August in an Israeli attack on the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis. 

The dead included Reuters journalist Hossam al-Masri, Al Jazeera journalist Mohammad Salama, Independent Arabia and AP journalist Maryam Abu Daqqa, and NBC journalist Muath Abu Taha. Journalist Ahmad Abu Aziz later succumbed to his wounds, which were sustained in the same attack.

One member of Gaza’s Civil Defense was killed as well, and several others were injured. An initial drone strike targeted the upper floor of the hospital, where the journalists were. A second attack took place targeting the rescue team as it was arriving at the scene. 

A sixth journalist, Hassan Douhan, a correspondent for Al-Hayat Al-Jadida publication, was fatally shot by Israeli forces in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.

Prime Minister’s Office Statement: Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza. Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians.

RELATED: ‘Double tap’ airstrikes: How Israel targets Gaza rescue efforts

Funeral ceremony in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital for the journalists killed in the Israeli attack
Funeral ceremony in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital for the journalists killed in the Israeli attack (Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu)

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Israel’s attack on hospital in Gaza may constitute a war crime on many fronts

Israel’s twin strike on the Nasser hospital in Gaza, which killed five journalists including staff working for the Associated Press, Reuters, NBC and Al Jazeera, is a potential violation of international law writ large.

The attack targeted a civilian building, specifically a hospital, in a reckless double-tap strike that killed civilians, with rescue workers and journalists among them. All categories that should be protected under international law.

While the Israel Defense Forces, which have killed about 200 journalists already in the Gaza war, immediately attempted to suggest the killing of civilians had been in error, the reality is that it appears to be policy and not a mistake (continue reading here).

The attack comes barely two weeks after renowned Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif was killed along with four of his media colleagues in front of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City (continue reading here).

Second strike on hospital caught on live television:

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What is the difference between food insecurity and famine?

Famine is a term used to describe “a societal catastrophe” that calls for an urgent and coordinated humanitarian response to avoid the mass loss of life.

For famine to be declared, at least 20% of the population must be facing extreme food shortages; acute malnutrition rates must exceed 30%; and two out of 10,000 people die from starvation daily.

“Encouraged by the US, Israel has tried to keep the Gazans from descending into ‘famine’ by turning the aid tap on whenever the data indicate it is about to cross that threshold. When it does this, and the IPC reports that the deterioration has been arrested, Israeli advocates claim that the famine story was made up all along. That’s wrong,” famine expert Alex de Waal writes.

“For international policymakers, it seems that what counts is the ‘F-word’. They won’t say it out loud, but the implication is that hunger that doesn’t reach the famine threshold is somehow tolerable,” de Waal added.

The Israeli government has repeatedly denied that Palestinians in Gaza are being forcibly starved or that the strip is in a state of famine.

36-year-old Khalil Muhammed Dervis, living in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, which is under Israeli blockade and attacks, struggles with hunger because he cannot access food in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 23, 2025.
36-year-old Khalil Muhammed Dervis, living in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, which is under Israeli blockade and attacks, struggles with hunger because he cannot access food in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 23, 2025. (Hassan Jedi – Anadolu Agency)

ISRAEL PROMISED TENTS FOR THE DISPLACED, BUT HAS NOT DELIVERED: The Government Media Office in Gaza has said that the south cannot absorb 1.3 million people forcibly displaced from Gaza City. Only 10,000 of the needed 250,000 tents (4%) have entered Gaza, due to Israeli “manipulation and deliberate delays in meeting essential humanitarian requirements.”

OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM HEADLINES:

(For background on the West Bank, read this and this. For information on the significance of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, read this and this.) 

Palestinian detainee dies in hospital four days after being shot by Israeli forces

Illegal Israeli settlers establish 3 new outposts in southern West Bank: Rights group

Israel accelerating excavations under Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli forces take security measures as Jewish settlers under Israeli protection raid on Old City in Hebron, West Bank on August 23, 2025.
Israeli forces take security measures as Jewish settlers under Israeli protection raid on Old City in Hebron, West Bank on August 23, 2025. (Wisam Hashlamoun – Anadolu Agency)

ISRAEL NEWS & HEADLINES:

(Get a glimpse inside Israel and the turmoil within its government. Often, our news items and headlines are taken from Israeli media.)

After over a week, Israel hasn’t responded to latest ceasefire offer, appears uninterested in reaching deal, says Qatar

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari says Qatar has not yet received a response from Israel to the latest ceasefire and hostage deal proposal – which Hamas proffered on August 18.

He says that the offer on the table “matches 90% of what Israel wants.”

“The ball is now in Israel’s court, and it seems that it does not want to reach an agreement,” Ansari adds.

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Israeli Ground Forces to Receive 5,000 Kamikaze Drones From Xtend

Israeli drone company Xtend has won a tender to supply 5,000 first-person view (FPV) attack drones to the Israeli Ground Forces.

The drone will be supplied at 3,500 Israeli new shekels ($1040) per unit, bringing the total procurement to approximately 20 million new shekels ($5.87 million).  

Delivery is reportedly expected to start within two and a half months.

MORE ISRAEL HEADLINES:

Media’s Gaza reports should focus more on Hamas abuses than wider humanitarian picture – editorial

Israeli rights group accuses general of war crimes in West Bank

In Israel, Palestinian bus driver attacked by youths shouting ‘death to Arabs’

Netanyahu’s office: Israel ‘deeply regrets’ strike on Nasser Hospital in Gaza

Israel probably missed chance to flip narrative at ICC, but still has chance at ICJ – analysis

OTHER NEWS:

Israeli soldiers mock American celebrities over their support for Palestinians

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) – A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:

“Denial is the most obscene expression of dehumanization”

West Bank village devastated as Israel uproots thousands of olive trees in 72 hours

Netanyahu, Katz talk tough

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – AUGUST 25, 2025*:

  • At least 63,851 Palestinians killed, 167,859 injured – including:
  • at least 62,819 killed in Gaza (~18,500 children) 
  • at least 1,032 killed in the West Bank (~210 children)
  • at least 158,629 injured in Gaza
  • at least 9,230 injured in the West Bank
  • at least 289 have died from malnutrition in Gaza, including 115 children

According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19 – March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 170 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.

At least 2,140 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid parcels from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating on May 26, 2025.

Since the Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, 2025 it has killed at least 10,975 people. 51 Israeli soldiers (most recent Aug. 23) have been killed during the same time period.

*NOTE: Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 14,000 more are still buried under rubble. Additionally, the numbers of injured and starved are very conservative estimates.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – August 25, 2025: ~1,629 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 455 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. (72 soldiers have reportedly died due to “operational incidents.”)

By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 240 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 197 and 313 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used).

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

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