4 journalists, including AP freelancer, killed in Israeli strike on Gaza hospital (Video)
Story by Susan Mbamah
An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza has killed four journalists, according to health officials.
Among the victims was 33-year-old Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who freelanced for The Associated Press and other news outlets during the war. In a statement, the AP expressed that it was “shocked and saddened” by her death and the loss of the other journalists.
The attack, which involved two missiles hitting Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, resulted in 19 deaths in total, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry’s records department.
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This conflict has proven to be one of the deadliest for media professionals. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 192 journalists have been killed in Gaza over the 22-month war, compared to 18 in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Dagga, whose 13-year-old son was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the conflict, often reported from Nasser Hospital. She had recently covered the struggles of doctors saving children from starvation. Independent Arabia also confirmed that she worked with them.
The AP stated, “We are doing everything we can to keep our journalists in Gaza safe as they continue to provide crucial eyewitness reporting in difficult and dangerous conditions.”
Al Jazeera confirmed that its journalist Mohammed Salam was killed in the strike, while Reuters reported that its contractor cameraman Hussam al-Masri was killed and its photographer, Hatem Khaled, was wounded. The identity of the fourth journalist killed has not been released.
The Israeli military acknowledged a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital and said it would investigate the incident, stating it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such.”
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Thibaut Bruttin, director general of Reporters Without Borders, said press freedom advocates have never seen such a significant setback for reporter safety.
He noted that journalists have been killed in both indiscriminate and targeted strikes acknowledged by the Israeli military. “They are doing everything they can to silence independent voices that are trying to report on Gaza,” Bruttin said.
In some cases, such as with Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, Israel has accused journalists of being part of militant groups, an allegation Al Jazeera and al-Sharif previously dismissed as baseless.
Israel has largely barred international media from covering the war, relying instead on Palestinian journalists and residents.
Many of these journalists face the same struggles to find food for their families as the people they are covering. In one of her final social media posts, Dagga shared a selfie of herself on Sunday.
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