An Israeli strike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital killed at least 20 people on Monday, including five journalists working for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and other outlets, sparking worldwide condemnation from governments, international organizations, and press freedom groups.
Among those killed was cameraman Hussam al-Masri, who had been providing live footage for Reuters when the broadcast abruptly cut off at the moment of the first strike. Reuters photojournalist Hatem Khaled was injured in a second strike, which eyewitnesses said occurred after rescuers, journalists, and others had rushed to the site of the initial bombing.
“We learned with great sadness of the death of Hossam al-Masri and the injury of another colleague during the Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital,” the agency said in a statement.
Hussam al-Masri
The victims also included Mohammed Salama, a journalist working with Al Jazeera. The network confirmed his death just three weeks after another Israeli strike killed four of its reporters and two independent journalists.
Mohammed Salama
Since the beginning of the war, more than 240 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli fire, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate. With Israel barring foreign reporters from entering Gaza since 2023, coverage of the conflict has relied heavily on Palestinian journalists, many of whom work with international outlets such as Reuters and Al Jazeera.
The Associated Press also voiced grief, mourning the death of Maryam Daga, a 33-year-old freelance photojournalist who had worked with AP since the beginning of the war.
Mariam Abu Dagga
Both agencies emphasized their deep loss, underscoring the mounting dangers facing journalists reporting from Gaza.
Israel Reacts
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the latest hospital strike as a “tragic accident,” but criticism continues to mount over the military’s targeting of areas where civilians and journalists are present. “Israel deeply regrets the tragic accident that occurred today at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis,” Netanyahu said in a statement in English, stressing that “Israel values the work of journalists, as well as that of medical staff and all civilians.”
🚨BREAKING :A video documents a horrific Israeli crime: targeting ambulance and civil defense crews as they were rescuing victims and the wounded after Israel bombed Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis among them was journalist Hossam al-Masri. pic.twitter.com/hKlZGBIpoa
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) August 25, 2025
Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, announced that he had ordered an immediate investigation into the strike, according to a military statement. The IDF confirmed that troops carried out an attack in the area. The military said it “regrets any harm caused to individuals not connected to the incident and does not target journalists.”
Moaz Abu Taha
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the attack, urging the international community to hold Israel accountable for “continued unlawful attacks on the press.” The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate called the strike “a dangerous escalation” and “an open war on free media,” accusing Israel of deliberately targeting reporters to silence coverage of the conflict.
World leaders also voiced their outrage. French President Emmanuel Macron said the attack was “intolerable,” stressing that civilians and journalists “must be protected in all circumstances.”
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed concern when told of the incident. “When did this happen?” he asked a reporter at the White House, saying: “I don’t want to see it. At the same time, we have to end that whole nightmare.”
Germany said on Monday it was “shocked by the deaths of journalists, rescuers and civilians” in Israeli strikes on a hospital in Gaza that left 20 people dead.
We are shocked by the killing of several journalists, rescue workers, and other civilians in an Israeli airstrike on the Nasser Hospital in #Gaza. This attack must be investigated. 1/2
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) August 25, 2025
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded “urgent and decisive international action” to protect civilians, while a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the killings of both medical staff and journalists, calling for a “prompt and impartial investigation.”
Health and humanitarian organizations echoed those calls. Médecins Sans Frontières’ emergency coordinator in Gaza, Jerome Grimaud, accused Israel of targeting both health facilities and reporters, saying: “The only witnesses of their campaign are deliberately being targeted. It must stop now.”
U.N. Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the killings should “shock the world into action,” while WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that attacks on healthcare in Gaza were worsening already dire conditions. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini added that silencing journalists “reporting about children dying silently and famine” was unacceptable.
From the United States, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said she was “appalled” by the strike, insisting “it needs to end now.”
The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem demanded answers from Israeli authorities and urged world leaders to act: “We call on Israel once and for all to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists…. We appeal to international leaders: do everything you can to protect our colleagues.”
The attack at Nasser Hospital underscores the growing dangers for journalists and medical workers covering the war, as international pressure mounts for accountability and protection of civilians.
