At least 15 people, including four journalists, were killed on Monday in an Israeli strike on a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.
Those killed included Reuters cameraman Husam al-Masri, Associated Press (AP) journalist Mariam Dagga, Al Jazeera contributor Mohammed Salameh, and photographer Muath Abu Taha. AP described Dagga, a 33-year-old freelance journalist, as “shocked and saddened” by her death.
The Hamas-run Civil Defence reported that several people were killed in an initial missile strike on the hospital, followed by a second strike that hit the same spot as rescuers tried to evacuate victims. The Hamas-run health ministry said the attack struck the fourth floor of the hospital.
The Israeli military confirmed carrying out the strike but stated that an investigation had been ordered. It insisted that it “does not target journalists as such.”
Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Civil Defence officials as saying that among the dead was one of its own members.
The attack comes just two weeks after six journalists — four of them from Al Jazeera — were killed in an Israeli strike near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.