Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Aug. 23, 2025. (Reuters archive photo of journalist Houssam al-Masri, who was killed in the Aug. 25, 2025, strike on Nasser Hospital)
Two Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Monday killed at least 20 people, including four journalists, and left dozens injured, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
An initial “kamikaze drone” strike on the building's upper floors prompted journalists and rescue workers to rush to the scene before a second strike targeted them as the journalists were broadcasting a live video feed. The Reuters live video feed from the hospital, operated by Houssam al-Masri, who was killed in the strike, suddenly shut down in the moment.
The Health Ministry condemned the “targeting” of “the only public hospital operating in the southern Gaza Strip.” The Israeli army, for its part, claimed it had struck “the vicinity” of the hospital, while images circulating in the media and filmed live, as well as eyewitness accounts from people on the scene, show that the upper floors of the medical complex were targeted.
The Gaza government media office, quoted by Al Jazeera, confirmed that four journalists were killed: Masri, a photojournalist with Reuters; Mohammad Salameh, a photojournalist for Al Jazeera; Mariam Abu Daqqa, a journalist for various media outlets including the Associated Press and The Independent Arabic; and Moaz Abu Taha, a journalist for NBC.
Later in the day, Ahmed Abu Aziz, who worked with the Quds Network and other media outlets, succumbed to his wounds, becoming the fifth journalist killed in the attack.
‘Shock and sadness’ from news agencies
Al-Jazeera confirmed Salameh's death, its spokesperson told AFP. Reuters and The Associated Press both expressed “shock and sadness.”
“We are devastated to learn of the death of Houssam al-Masri and the injuries sustained by another of our colleagues (…) during Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital,” a Reuters spokesperson said. The Associated Press said it was “shocked and saddened” by the death of Abu Daqqa, 33, a freelance photojournalist who had been working with the agency since the start of the Gaza war.
A paramedic was also among the victims, according to authorities in Gaza.
‘Patients are fleeing Gaza hospitals’
Dr. at Nasser Hospital Saber al-Asmar described the double strike on the hospital as a “massive bombardment,” saying it happened while students, doctors and journalists were present, Al-Jazeera reported.
“In the mornings especially, the hospital is full of medical students, patients, doctors and nurses … They were attending classes while journalists were preparing reports on the situation in Gaza hospitals,” the doctor said, adding that the strikes left patients traumatized.
“I can see the fear and horror on their faces when they are supposed to be in a place protected by international law,” he said. “Patients are fleeing hospitals; they are now afraid to remain inside.”
Several wounded people, some covered in blood, were treated at the hospital following the strikes, an AFP photographer at the scene reported.
Through its Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army said that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir had ordered a preliminary investigation “as soon as possible.” The army expressed “regret for the civilian casualties,” stressing it does not “target journalists as such and strives, as much as possible, to reduce their exposure while continuing to ensure the security of its forces.”
‘A war crime and horrific massacre,’ Hamas says
Hamas condemned what it called “another war crime” in a statement. “The criminal occupier’s assassination of journalists Houssam al-Masri, Mohammad Salameh, Mariam Abu Daqqa and Moaz Abu Taha, who were working with Arab and international media outlets while covering the hospital bombing, constitutes a war crime and a horrific massacre,” the group said.
It accused Israel of trying “to deter journalists from telling the truth, covering war crimes, ethnic cleansing and the catastrophic living conditions of our people in Gaza, worsened by the systematic starvation policy that the war criminal [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] is deepening, in blatant defiance of international will.”
Hamas called on the international community “to act immediately and seriously to end this crime of the century and the systematic extermination in Gaza, and to urgently save and rescue our people.”
On Aug. 10, six Al-Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli strike, including Anas al-Sharif.
More than 240 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the war started on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate and Gaza's government media office.
Gaza's Health Ministry also announced on Monday that 58 Palestinians were killed and 308 wounded in the past 24 hours. The overall toll since Oct. 7, 2023, now stands at over 62,744 killed and 158,259 wounded.
