🧩 Four journalists killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital

Two Israeli strikes hit the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Monday, killing at least eight people — including four Palestinian journalists and a rescue worker, health officials in Gaza said.

📸 The journalists — Hussam al-Masri (a Reuters contractor), Mohammed Salama (an Al Jazeera cameraman), Mariam Dagga (a freelancer for the Associated Press), and Moaz Abu Taha — had all worked with international outlets. The AP said Dagga, 33, often reported from Nasser Hospital, covering children dying of starvation. Her 12-year-old son was evacuated earlier in the war.

💥 The first strike hit the hospital’s fourth floor, officials said, followed minutes later by another that killed a Civil Defense worker and injured seven others. Footage verified by The New York Times showed bodies piled along a staircase between the third and fourth floors.

🇮🇱 The Israeli military confirmed striking near the hospital but did not specify the target. It said it does not “target journalists” and announced an internal inquiry. Israel has long claimed Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes, which Hamas denies.

🌍 The Gaza war — now in its 23rd month — has been one of the deadliest conflicts for reporters. At least 192 journalists have been killed since October 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

#Gaza #Israel #Journalists #PressFreedom #War

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🧩 At Least 20 Killed in Strikes on Gaza Hospital

Israeli airstrikes on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least 20 people on Monday, including three journalists, medical staff, patients, and rescue workers, according to Palestinian health officials.

💥 The hospital in Khan Younis was hit twice — first striking the fourth floor, then hitting rescue crews who rushed to the scene. Footage from Jordan’s Alghad TV showed workers in orange vests tending to casualties on a stairwell before being hit by the second strike.

📸 Among the dead were journalists Mariam Dagga, 33, a freelancer for the Associated Press; Mohammad Salama, a photographer for Al Jazeera; and Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters cameraman. Another Reuters contractor, Hatem Khaled, was wounded. The Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 190 reporters and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the war began, making it one of the deadliest conflicts for the press.

🗣 The Israeli military confirmed striking near the hospital, saying it did not target journalists and that the chief of staff had ordered an inquiry. Prime Minister Netanyahu, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with plans to seize Gaza City, despite growing international condemnation and a stalled cease-fire proposal.

🌍 Critics accuse Israel of systematically endangering journalists to control the narrative of the war. Foreign reporters remain barred from entering Gaza independently, leaving local journalists on the front lines — and at extraordinary risk.

#Israel #Gaza #Journalists #PressFreedom #MiddleEast #War

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The West Bank Naming Machine

At night, Sami al-Shami was a journalist detained with his brother Yazid after troops raided their home in Asira al-Qibliya, south of Nablus.

By morning, pro-settler outlets had upgraded him into a “terrorist posing as a journalist.” No charges, evidence or official accusation accompanied the promotion.

In the West Bank, “journalist” is a job title until somebody needs a cleaner headline.

Israeli forces also detained journalist Raja Jabr after raiding her home in Arraba, southwest of Jenin, according to Palestinian journalist organizations.

The same reporting described raids in Nablus’s Old City and Ras al-Ein neighborhood, plus an operation in Qabatiya. The IDF has not publicly detailed the accusations against al-Shami or Jabr in the cited reports.

On Friday, soldiers detained four foreign nationals near Kfar Tapuach. Police questioned them at Ariel station on suspicion of public-order offenses and entering a closed military zone, then passed their files to the Population and Immigration Authority for hearings before possible deportation.

A military zone is a flexible device: it can keep outsiders from a confrontation, or keep witnesses from watching it happen.

Meanwhile, Palestinian media reported that settlers entered al-Samou, south of Hebron, burned a Palestinian-owned vehicle, spray-painted graffiti on a home and damaged property.

Footage cited by Israeli reporting showed the words “Nova revenge,” referring to the October 7 music-festival massacre.

The raid gets a security label. The journalist gets a terrorist label. The foreign observer gets an expulsion hearing. The arson gets a report and a photograph.

By sunrise, the territory has been made orderly again.

#WestBank #Israel #Journalists #Settlers

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