5 Gaza-Based Journalists Killed In Israeli Strike – Associated Press, Al Jazeera Express Outrage

More journalists with Al Jazeera have been killed in the Gaza Strip, the Qatar-based outlet has reported, in an Israeli airstrike which killed a total of 20 people.

Al Jazeera photographer Mohammad Salama is among the dead after a large Israeli aerial attack on Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza on Monday, with local sources describing it as a double-tap strike.

Al Jazeera screengrab showing slain Palestinian journalists.

Also among the dead are Mariam Dagga, a freelance journalist for The Associated Press, and a Reuters contractor cameraman identified as Hussam al-Masri. Another with Hamas’ Quds Feed Network succumbed of his wounds.

The Hamas media office in a statement said, „The journalist colleagues were martyred when the Israeli occupation committed a horrific crime by bombing a group of journalists who were on a press coverage mission at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis Governorate and many martyrs fell victim to this crime.”

„We hold the Israeli occupation, the American administration, and the countries participating in the genocide crime such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France fully responsible for committing these heinous brutal crimes,” it added.

The Associated Press has been among international outlets to say it was „shocked and saddened” by Dagga’s death (its freelancer). And Reuters detailed:

Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor, was killed near a live broadcasting position operated by Reuters on an upper floor just below the roof of the hospital in Khan Younis in an initial strike, according to Palestinian health officials.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack but said it did not intentionally target journalists.

„The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such,” the military said in a statement. „The IDF acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible while maintaining the safety of IDF troops.”

Israel’s military has routinely accused Arab media outlets like Al Jazeera of being 'pro Hamas’ or even at times cooperating with terrorists. Previously Israel has raided Al Jazeera offices in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Widely-circulating disturbing video purporting to show a strike which killed journalists and paramedics:

UNPRECEDENTED
Targeting Civil Defence officers and paramedics by Israeli jets while evacuating casualties following Israeli bombing of Nasser Hospital! pic.twitter.com/jHDlFANZqG

— Motasem A Dalloul (@AbujomaaGaza) August 25, 2025

In 2024 Israeli authorities confiscated office equipment and shuttered Al Jazeera’s operations in Ramallah and inside Israel.

This latest mass casualty attack will serve to keep Israel under international scrutiny and pressure. Currently a growing list of European countries plan to formally recognize a state of Palestine at the UN in September. PM Netanyahu has meanwhile articulated that alongside a ground war in Gaza, and wars in nearby Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon – Israel is fighting a 'media war’.