Gaza, 25 August 2025 — This morning, Israeli forces committed a horrific crime at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, carried out in broad daylight and broadcast live before the world. Al Mezan's field unit reports that at around 10:15 a.m. on Monday, 25 August 2025, Israeli forces targeted the fourth floor of the Al-Yassin Building at Nasser Hospital, in western Khan Younis. The attack struck the hospital’s top floor, killing and injuring journalists, medical staff, civil defense crews, and patients.

Civil defense teams rushed to evacuate the dead and wounded, while journalists who were present gathered to rescue their colleagues and cover the aftermath. Israeli forces then launched a second strike, killing 20 people, among them five journalists, a sixth-year medical trainee, a civil defense member, and several patients and their companions, while many others sustained serious injuries. This kind of attack is called a double tap strike, which is when Israel will continue to bomb the same location after an initial strike, to deliberately prevent rescue efforts.

Among those killed were Reuters cameraman Hossam Al-Masri; Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammed Salama; NBC News journalist Moaz Abu Taha; journalist Mariam Abu Deqqa, who worked with several media outlets; journalist Ahmad Abu Aziz; civil defense driver Imad Al-Shaer; and medical student Mohammed Al-Habibi.

 Field reports and eyewitness accounts confirm that Israeli surveillance drones were actively monitoring Nasser Hospital, specifically circling above it and tracking every movement. This confirms that Israeli forces deliberately targeted the hospital despite there being clearly identifiable doctors, civil defense members, and journalists with visible press markings. Safa Al-Ghalayini, a journalist for Al-Kofiya TV, told Al Mezan:

 "At around 10:15 a.m. on Monday, 25 August 2025, several colleagues and I were in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital following the latest developments and covering the arrival of the dead and the wounded. Surveillance drones were flying heavily overhead. Suddenly, an explosion struck the hospital’s fourth floor in the Al-Yassin Building. Some of us [journalists] moved outside the hospital to film, while others went upstairs to document the damage. As they reached the top floor, another explosion hit, killing journalists and Civil Defense personnel".

Israel attacked while more than 1,000 patients and wounded were present inside Nasser Hospital, the only facility still minimally functioning in southern Gaza, making it the only place remotely able to provide medical services to thousands of people. According to the hospital director, the strike was conducted without any prior warning and caused several operating rooms to shut down.

Today's attack is part of Israel’s systematic policy of targeting Palestinian journalists to prevent them from reporting on the reality in Gaza. Despite using vests, helmets, vehicles, and equipment clearly identified as ‘PRESS,’ Palestinian journalists continue to be deliberately targeted and killed. Israeli forces have also purposefully attacked many of their families in direct strikes on their homes, with no justification other than to inflict severe harm, punish them for reporting on the genocide, and intimidate them from continuing their work as journalists. At the same time, since October 2023, Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza to cover its crimes. According to Al Mezan’s documentation, today’s attack has brought the number of Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023 to 299. The targeting of Palestinian journalists is a deliberate policy by Israel to isolate Palestinians and obstruct the documentation of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Al Mezan strongly condemns this horrific war crime, in which five journalists and several other doctors, civil defence members, and patients and their families were killed. This attack is a continuation of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the repeated targeting of hospitals, medical facilities, and rescue teams intended to inflict physical harm on Palestinians and amounting to genocide. We call on the international community to act urgently and move from words to action to halt Israel’s ongoing genocide and to end the inhumane conditions endured by more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.

Al Mezan urges the International Criminal Court to take immediate and effective steps to investigate international crimes committed against Palestinian journalists, medical staff, and Civil Defense teams. Al Mezan also urges all States Parties to the Rome Statute and the broader international community to fulfill their obligations in prosecuting Israeli war criminals, including those who ordered these atrocities. Immediate measures must be adopted to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, Civil Defense equipment, and the media.