
Image source, Getty Images
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- Author, Norberto Paredes*
- Author's title, BBC News World
A double attack by Israel against a hospital in Gaza killed 20 people on Monday, including five journalists working for international media.
The BBC has verified several videos of the two air attacks made against the Nasser hospital in Jan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
One of the videos, captured in a live broadcast by Al Ghad TV, shows several emergency workers responding to the first attack on the Nasser hospital while several journalists in the background record the scene.
In the images you see a ladder that offers views towards Jan Yunis, where journalists usually meet to obtain information about the city.
The second attack directly hit lifeguards and journalists, lifting smoke and debris. At least one corpse is visible after the attack.
Another video, taken from the same staircase, shows the consequences of the second attack. From this angle, several corpses can be seen on the stairs, while emergency equipment attends to the aftermath of the attack.
In a third clip, filmed from the outside of the hospital, smoke is seen that leaves near the upper floor, while the journalists who film shout that the Nasser hospital has been attacked “again.”
The news agency Reuters He informed that his cameraman Hussam al Masri was among the deceased. I was working on a live television broadcast from the roof, which went out with the first attack.
The agency said it is devastated and “urgently seeks more information.”
For its part, the AP agency reported that Mariam Dagga, an independent journalist who worked for the agency, was also killed.
The news agency said to be “shocked and sad” by the death of the 33 -year -old journalist.
The other deceased were Mohammad Salama, from Al Jazera; Ahmed Abu Aziz, independent journalist of Middle East Eye; and Moaz Abu Taha, photographer. The US NBC chain said that Taha did not work for them, as initially reported.
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incident as a “tragic accident” and said that military authorities are “carrying out an exhaustive investigation.”
In another incident, the Palestinian journalist union reported Monday night that a sixth journalist, Hassan Douhan, was shot by the Israeli army.
“It reaches success and shines”
Image source, Reuters
Mariam Abu Dagga, one of the few women visual journalists who have covered the war in Gaza and worked as freelance For AP, he had written his will despite being only 33 years old.
He asked his colleagues not to cry at his funeral and his 13 -year -old son, Ghaith, he said in a letter: “Make me proud … it reaches success and shines.”
Julie Pace, Executive Editor and AP Senior Vice President, said Dagga worked in “incredibly difficult circumstances to bring Gaza stories to the world, in particular the coverage of the impact of war on children.”
“She was a true hero, like all our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza,” the journalist Abby Sewell of AP wrote in an X publication.
Amande Bazerolle, responsible for the emergency response in Gaza for doctors without borders (MSF), described her as “a very friendly and charming person.”
“We often worked with her,” said Bazerolle, who added that Dagga had “a brilliant touch” for photography and a gift to capture the kind side of the people.
For its part, the chain Al Jazera He condemned the attack as “a clear attempt to bury the truth.”
“The blood of our martyrs in Gaza was not yet dry when the Israeli occupation forces committed another crime against the cameraman of Al Jazera Mohammed Salama, along with three other photojournalists, “he said in a statement.
A spokesman for Reuters declared: “We are devastated to know that cameraman Hussam al Masri, contractor of Reutershe died this morning in Israeli attacks against Nasser Hospital in Jan Yunis, Gaza. Moaz Abu Taha, an independent journalist whose work had been published occasionally by Reutersalso died, and photographer Hatem Khaled, contractor of Reutershe was injured. ”
“We are urgently looking for more information and we have asked the authorities of Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for HATEM,” added the spokesman.
Image source, Reuters
“Israel knows that we are journalists”
The first attack occurred around 10:00 local time on Monday, according to the medical staff of the Nasser Hospital.
There was “panic and chaos”, according to a British medical professional who was working in the hospital, and approximately 10 minutes after the first attack there was another explosion in the same place.
A journalist told the BBC details of what happened during the attacks.
He assured that he and his colleagues were looking for a place with a good sign that allowed them to upload their journalistic material and that everyone was surprised by Israel's attacks against “all journalists” because they were occurring in view of everyone and even “live on television.”
He added that that had left them confused and scared.
After the second attack, the journalist said he saw “torn limbs and blood sprouting from the bodies of some of the injured journalists.”
Another journalist described the incident as a “crime” and explained that Israel “knows that we are journalists who inform about the suffering of our people and we carry a vest that identifies us as professionals.”
He asked for protection for journalists who “do not enjoy any international protection.”
Another journalist assured that the first air attack was aimed at the top floor of the hospital, while the second attack aimed at those who were on the stairs transmitting and receiving data.
A witness confirmed that an Israeli drone flew over the area while evacuating the dead and injured of the first air attack, before the second attack surprised them, attacking all those who were on the stairs, who wore official vests that identified them as a press or paramedics.
Image source, EPA
The controversial use of a “double impact”
Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “deeply laments the tragic accident today at Nasser Hospital in Gaza.”
He added that Israel “values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians” and assured that the Israeli army is carrying out an “thorough investigation.”
However, the statement does not approach the apparent nature of a double impact at all.
The fact that most of the victims were killed by the second attack, precisely in the same place, about 10 minutes later, it indicates that it could have been intentional.
The “double impact” (doble tap) It is a controversial military tactic designed to maximize casualties shooting at those who come to the scene of a first attack.}
The Israel Defense Forces (FDI) published on Tuesday an initial investigation into the attacks where they describe that their troops “identified a camera that was placed by Hamas in the Nasser hospital area.”
The camera, they say, “was being used to observe the activity of the FDI troops.”
“Given this, the troops acted to eliminate the threat by hitting and dismantling the camera,” continues the statement.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, strongly condemned the “horrible murders” at the Nasser hospital, which, he said, “highlight the extreme risks facing medical staff and journalists in the performance of their vital work in the middle of this brutal conflict.”
He asked for a “fast and impartial research.”
For his part, Francesca Albanese, a special reporter of the UN on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, said that European countries have not done enough to pressure Israel and requested protection for journalists, hospitals and doctors.
Albanese also requested sanctions and a blockade for the sale of weapons to Israel, and greater pressure to allow the entry of help to the Gaza Strip.
More than 190 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war between Israel and Gaza, according to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, and at least 180 of them are dead Palestinians at the hands of Israel.
The International Federation of Journalists adds to the Palestinian journalist union to condemn the continuous murders and attacks against journalists and ask for immediate investigation into their deaths.
*With additional information from Megan Fisher and Emir Nader.
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