Netanyahu says hospital strike that killed 20 was ‘tragic mishap’

Freelance journalist Mariam Dagga was among the dead. Picture: AP

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said an Israeli strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed 20 people, including five journalists, was a “tragic mishap”.

He said that Israel “values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians”, and that the military is investigating.

In the incident, Israel struck one of the main hospitals in the Gaza Strip, and then hit the facility again as journalists and rescue workers rushed to the scene, killing at least 20 people and wounding scores more, local health workers said.

It was among the deadliest of several Israeli strikes that have hit both hospitals and journalists over the course of the 22-month war sparked by Hamas’ attack on October 7 2023, and the attack came as Israel plans to widen its offensive to heavily populated areas.

The first strike hit a top floor of a building at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Minutes later, as journalists and rescuers in orange vests rushed up an external staircase, a second projectile hit, said Dr Ahmed al-Farra, head of Nasser’s paediatrics department.

Among those killed was 33-year-old Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who had worked for The Associated Press. Ms Dagga regularly reported for multiple outlets from the hospital, including a recent story for the AP on doctors struggling to save children from starvation.

The strike killed four other journalists who had worked for Al Jazeera, Reuters and Middle East Eye, a UK-based media outlet, most on a contractor or freelance basis.

Brig Gen Effie Defrin, an Israeli military spokesman, said the army does not target civilians and had launched an internal investigation into the strikes.

He accused Hamas of hiding among civilians but did not say whether Israel believed any militants were present during the strikes on the hospital.

Mr Netanyahu’s statement said Israel “deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza”.

Israeli media reported that Israeli troops fired two artillery shells at the hospital, targeting what they suspected was a Hamas surveillance camera on the roof.

The UN secretary-general, along with the UK, France and others, condemned the attack. When asked about the strike, US president Donald Trump initially said he was not aware of it before offering: “I’m not happy about it. I don’t want to see it.” Israel has attacked hospitals multiple times throughout the war, asserting that Hamas embeds itself in and around the facilities, though Israeli officials rarely provide evidence.

Hamas security personnel have been seen inside such facilities over the course of the war, and parts of those sites have been off limits to reporters and the public.

The hospitals that remain open have been overwhelmed by the dead, wounded and now by increasing numbers of malnourished as parts of Gaza are now in famine.