Israel struck the Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 21 people, including five journalists, as well as doctors and rescuers, in the last deliberate attack on civilians and the decimated health system of the besieged enclave.
The attack on Monday, who killed journalists who worked for Tel Aviv Tribune, the press agencies Reuters and Associated Press (AP), and others, were among the deadliest of a multitude of Israeli strikes which targeted hospitals and the media during the genocidal assault of almost two years.
It then comes that Israel expands its offensive to highly populated areas and urban centers, including Gaza City, increasing the peril already increased for the population.
The first strike in the “double-tap” attack, where a strike is followed by a second shortly after, hit the top floor of a building at Nasser Hospital. A few minutes later, while journalists and rescuers of the orange vests rushed on an outdoor staircase, a second projectile success, said Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, the head of the Pediatrics department.
Among the journalists killed were Mohammad Salama of Tel Aviv Tribune, the cameraman Reuters Hussam Al-Masri, Mariam Abu Daqqa, an independent journalist working for the time, as well as Hmed Abu Aziz and Moaz Abu Taha.
Tareq Abu Azzoum of Tel Aviv Tribune, postponing Deir El-Balah, said that the attack had “sent the whole area to an absolute feeling of chaos and panic”.
“Not only for passers-by or people living near the hospital, but for the patients themselves, who receive treatment in one of the areas that must be protected by international humanitarian law,” said Abu Azzoum.
The attack was greeted by a generalized world conviction, in particular press freedom groups and rights defenders, which expressed its indicator in the face of the repeated targeted killings of Israel of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
Tel Aviv Tribune condemned the attack as “a clear intention to bury the truth”.
Francesca Albanian, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, also denounced the attack.
“The rescuers have killed online. Scenes like this take place every moment in Gaza, often invisible, largely undocumented,” said Albanese.
“I beg the states: how much more must be observed before acting to stop this carnage?” Break the blockade. Impose an embargo on arms. Impose sanctions. “
The allies of Israel, such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, called for an investigation.
Palestinian journalists Syndicate also condemned Israel for strikes, saying that he represented “an open war against the free media, in order to terrorize journalists and prevent them from fulfilling their professional duty from exposing their crimes in the world”.
The attack increases the number of deaths of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023 to at least 273, according to a Tally Tel Aviv Tribune.
The committee to protect journalists called for “the international community to hold Israel responsible for its continuous illegal attacks against the press”.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the strike was a “tragic incident” and that the army was investigating. Israel has often published similar statements after incidents that attracted international outrage and calls for United Nations surveys, but the actual responsibility of the authors is unknown.
The Israeli forces also killed the Palestinian correspondent Hassan Douhan, who worked for the publication of Al-Hayat al-Jadida, in a separate incident in Khan Younis later on Monday, bearing the number of deaths of journalists killed that day.
Two weeks ago, Israel killed an eminent correspondent of Tel Aviv Tribune Anas Al-Sharif and four other journalists on strike. In this attack, Israel admitted to having targeted Sharif and wrongly presumed that he had worked for Hamas, without providing proof, after having openly offbeat and condemned for months before killing him.
Nasser Hospital resisted raids and bombings during the war, those responsible on several occasions, notifying the critical shortages of supplies and staff in the middle of a paralyzing aid blockade. Other hospitals have also been attacked, including Al-Shifa Medical Complex, the main hospital in the Enclave, where Israel killed hundreds.
Enclave of death, despair and famine
Israeli attacks across the territory struck by famine have killed at least 61 people since dawn on Monday, including seven people who are desperately looking for help.
The tanks have progressed in the city of Gaza, where Israeli forces have intensified the attacks in order to force nearly a million Palestinians there in the concentration areas.
The Civil Defense of Gaza said that Israel had destroyed 1,000 buildings in Gaza City since August 6, trapping hundreds of rubble, while the ongoing bombings and blocked access routes have prevented numerous rescue and aid operations.
Al-Awda Hospital said the Israeli shots also killed six help seekers trying to reach a distribution point in the center of Gaza and injured 15 more.
Israeli forces have systematically opened fire to hungry Palestinians while trying to get lean plots of aid on controversial GHF sites supported by the United States.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed and some 13,500 injured while asking for aid at the distribution points or along the convoy channels used by the UN and other aid groups.
Al-Awda said two Israeli strikes in the center of Gaza killed six Palestinians, including a child, while the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City said three Palestinians, one of whom had been killed in a strike.
The incessant attacks continue as the UN warns that malnutrition in children in Gaza is deepened.
The UN Humanitarian Office (OCHA) has renewed calls for unrestricted aid flow in and inside Gaza.
“With famine conditions now confirmed in the governorate of Gaza, hunger and malnutrition in children are deepening,” said OCHA.
“Partners working on nutrition note that in any food crisis, children suffering from underlying health problems are first assigned – and without nutrition, water and appropriate care, their state aggravates more quickly.”
Chris McIntosh, Oxfam humanitarian advisor in Gaza, described the situation as unprecedented in terms of scale and severity.
“It is difficult not to approach superlatives in this context, but really, it is a singular humanitarian disaster and the worst crisis of which I have ever been part … from afar,” he said.
Meanwhile, American president Donald Trump predicted that the war against Gaza could see a “conclusive end” in two to three weeks. Similar affirmations quickly fell on the way, because the military and diplomatic support of Washington of the genocidal war of Israel shows no sign of slowdown.
“He must get out of it with hunger and all other problems – worse than hunger, death, pure death – people (are) killed,” said Trump.