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Five journalists among 20 killed in Israeli strike on hospital, Gaza officials say -UPDATED

25 August 2025 16:44 (UTC +04:00)

At least 20 people, including five journalists working for the international media, are reported to have been killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, APA reports citing BBC.

A Reuters cameraman, an Associated Press (AP) journalist, and an Al Jazeera photographer were among them. It is not clear who the other two worked for.

Several people were killed in an initial strike, and others in a second which happened as rescuers attended the scene, the Hamas-run health ministry said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says an investigation is being carried out into its attack on the hospital. It added that it "does not target journalists as such", but did not give details about the strike.

The latest deaths brings the number of journalists killed in Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023 to nearly 200.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a leading body which promotes press freedom, the war in Gaza has been the deadliest conflict for journalists ever documented. It says more press members have been killed there in the past two years than were killed worldwide in the prior three years.

International journalists have been banned by Israel from entering the Gaza Strip independently since the start of the war.

Some journalists have been taken into Gaza by the IDF under controlled access, but international media outlets rely on local reporters for much of their coverage in Gaza.

***12:47

Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Monday killed at least 15 people, including three journalists, one of whom worked for Reuters, Palestinian health officials said, APA reports citing Al Arabiya.

Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, one of the journalists killed in the strikes according to the officials, was a contractor for Reuters. Photographer Hatem Khaled, who was also a Reuters contractor, was wounded, the officials said.

The ministry said the victims on the fourth floor of Nasser Hospital were killed in a double-tap strike — one missile hitting first, then another moments later as rescue crews arrived.