US President Donald Trump said he is "not happy" about Israeli strikes on a hospital in Gaza that killed at least 20 people on Monday, including five journalists and medical workers, reports Time on Tuesday.
The Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip was hit by two strikes in quick succession, with the second blast killing medics and rescue workers who had rushed to the scene to help people injured in the first, hospital officials told Reuters.
Journalists who were covering the attack on the hospital were killed on duty.
"I'm not happy about it. I don't want to see it. At the same time, we have to end that whole nightmare. I'm the one that got the hostages out," Trump said in the Oval Office when asked by a reporter about the strike.
Reuters verified a video of the incident, taken from a live broadcast on Egyptian television, which showed rescue workers searching through the rubble of an upper floor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis get hit by the strike.
The journalists killed included Mariam Abu Dagga, a freelance journalist who worked for the Associated Press; Mohammed Salama, who worked for Al Jazeera; Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist who worked with several news organisations, including Reuters; and Ahmed Abu Aziz, a contributor to Middle East Eye.
Two weeks earlier Israel killed four Al Jazeera journalists in a targeted strike in Gaza City.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the airstrike a "tragic mishap," and claimed that Israel "values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians."
The Israeli army acknowledged striking the area. "We are aware of reports that harm was caused to civilians, including journalists," said Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Effie Defrin, adding that the incident would be subject to an immediate inquiry.
"The IDF does not intentionally target civilians. The IDF acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible while maintaining the safety of IDF troops," he added.
At least 192 journalists have been killed in Gaza in the 22-month conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)—189 of them Palestinians. The war has been even more deadly for health workers: more than 1,500 have been killed by Israel's strikes in Gaza, according to the United Nations.
French President Emmanuel Macron joined international condemnation of the strike.
"This is intolerable: civilians and journalists must be protected in all circumstances. The media must be able to carry out their mission freely and independently to cover the reality of the conflict," he said.
More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the Health Ministry of the besieged enclave.
Comments