At least 19 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Monday, August 25, according to Palestinian health officials. Among the dead were four Palestinian journalists—one a contractor for Reuters and another a freelancer for The Associated Press—underscoring what has become one of the world’s deadliest conflicts for media workers.
The Reuters journalist, Hussam al-Masri, was killed in the first strike at the hospital, while another Reuters contractor, Hatem Khaled, was injured. “We are devastated to learn of the death of Reuters contractor Hussam al-Masri and injuries to another of our contractors,” a Reuters spokesperson said Monday. “We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Hussam’s family and loved ones. We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem.”
Journalists Targeted Amid Ongoing War
The four journalists killed in this latest attack included individuals working for international outlets such as Reuters, AP, and NBC. One of them, female photographer Abu Daqqa—known among colleagues as “the adventurer”—had gained recognition for her powerful reporting on the toll of Israel’s military operations on Gaza’s children and civilians.
Monday’s strike is just the latest deadly incident in what advocates call an alarming trend: At least 192 journalists have died in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). That figure dwarfs the number of media deaths reported in other contemporary conflicts; by comparison, only 18 journalists have been killed during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Calls for Accountability
The Israeli military confirmed troops had carried out a strike “in the area” of Nasser hospital and that an inquiry had been ordered. However, there has been no detailed comment from Israeli officials about why the hospital and its press corps were targeted. International scrutiny is growing: A group of U.S. senators recently pressed Israel for evidence after Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif was killed in a similar strike—one they called part of a “pattern of violence that has silenced the voices of far too many Gazan journalists.”
Images from Nasser hospital showed Palestinian medics scrambling to evacuate the wounded amid smoke and debris. For many families—like those of Hussam al-Masri and Abu Daqqa—the cost of bearing witness to war has proved tragically high.
