Palestinian health officials said the first missile killed Reuters contractor cameraman Hussam al-Masri near a Reuters live broadcasting position at the Khan Younis hospital.
A second strike moments later hit rescuers and journalists, they said.
Those killed included Al Jazeera photographer Mohammad Salama; Associated Press freelancer Mariam Abu Dagga; freelance journalist Moaz Abu Taha, who contributed to Reuters; and Ahmed Abu Aziz. Reuters contractor photographer Hatem Khaled was wounded.
The attack came as Israel intensified its push to seize Gaza City despite a famine declared last week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel deeply regretted what he called a “tragic mishap,” adding that Israel values journalists and medical staff and is at war with Hamas.
The military acknowledged striking the hospital area and said the chief of staff ordered an inquiry.
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such,” it said, adding it works to mitigate harm while protecting troops.
“We are devastated,” a Reuters spokesperson said, confirming al-Masri’s death, Abu Taha’s death, and Khaled’s wounding, and urging authorities to help secure urgent medical assistance for Khaled.
The AP said it was “shocked and saddened” by the deaths, noting Abu Dagga had often based herself at the hospital, including for coverage of starving and malnourished children.
U.S. President Donald Trump said: “I’m not happy about it. I don’t want to see it. At the same time, we have to end that whole nightmare.”
In a separate incident Monday, Nasser Hospital doctors said Israeli gunfire killed local journalist Hassan Dohan at a tent encampment in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis and wounded others, bringing journalists’ deaths this week to six.
Two weeks ago, Israel killed Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif and four other journalists in a strike. Israel said Sharif worked for Hamas, which the broadcaster denied.
The Palestinian presidency urged the international community, particularly the U.N. Security Council and the United Nations, to protect journalists and hold Israel accountable.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate called the strikes “an open war against free media,” saying more than 240 Palestinian journalists had been killed in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack. The Committee to Protect Journalists put the total journalists and media workers killed since the war began at 197, including 189 Palestinians in Gaza, and urged accountability for “continued unlawful attacks on the press.”
Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said the army is obligated under international law to investigate and would present findings “as transparently as possible.”
Reporting from an active war zone carries “immense risk,” he said, especially against a group “such as Hamas, who cynically hides behind the civilian population.”
Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza since the war began in 2023, leaving coverage to Palestinian reporters, many long-affiliated with international media.
Israel also says it is investigating the October 2023 death of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah in southern Lebanon. It has not announced findings.
(jh)
Source: Reuters, BBC