KHAN YUNIS,(Palestine Foundation Information Center ) At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Monday when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) bombed the emergency and reception building of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. The victims included five journalists, a doctor, and a paramedic.
Local sources said the IOF first targeted the hospital’s third floor with an explosive drone, killing Reuters photographer Hossam al-Masri and another civilian. Minutes later, as rescuers and journalists rushed to assist, a second strike hit the gathering, raising the death toll.
The slain journalists were identified as: Hossam al-Masri (Reuters), Mohammed Salama (Al Jazeera), Mariam Abu Daqa (freelance, Independent Arabia & AP), Moaz Abu Taha (freelance), and Ahmed Abu Aziz, who succumbed later to his wounds. Their martyrdom brings the number of Palestinian journalists killed since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza to 245.
The Hamas Movement condemned the attack, describing it as a “compound war crime” that added to Israel’s “bloody record.”
The Movement said the targeting of journalists was meant to silence coverage of atrocities and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of defying international law by striking a protected medical facility.
Hamas urged the international community, the United Nations, and Arab and Muslim states to act decisively, pressure the US and other Israeli backers, and hold Israel accountable in international courts.
The Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza strongly denounced the Israeli strike on Nasser Medical Complex, calling it a horrific crime deliberately targeting journalists while on duty.
It said the attack, which killed five reporters among others, was part of Israel’s systematic campaign to silence the press and conceal evidence of genocide in Gaza. The GMO urged international journalist unions and media organizations worldwide to denounce these crimes, protect Palestinian journalists, and hold Israel accountable before international courts.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned the attack as a deliberate strike on the only functioning public hospital in southern Gaza, calling it “part of the systematic destruction of the health sector and continuation of genocide.”
The ministry warned that the bombing disrupted surgeries, terrorized patients, and deprived the wounded of urgent treatment. It issued an urgent appeal to protect Gaza’s remaining medical services and humanitarian staff.
