Israeli forces struck Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis on August 25, 2025, in a sequence of attacks that killed journalists, medical workers, rescuers and other Palestinians. Initial reports put the death toll at at least 20, including five journalists. A later UN humanitarian update, citing Gaza's Ministry of Health, said 22 Palestinians had died after two wounded people subsequently succumbed to their injuries.
The attack drew international condemnation and demands for an impartial investigation. UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the killings and said civilians, including medical personnel and journalists, must be protected. Israel acknowledged carrying out the strike and opened an inquiry. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incident as a "tragic mishap," while the Israeli military later said troops had intended to destroy a camera they believed Hamas was using to observe Israeli forces.
What Happened at Nasser Hospital
The strikes hit Nasser Medical Complex, a major hospital in southern Gaza that was treating patients while also serving as a location from which journalists reported on the war. Reuters reported that cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a contractor for the news agency, was killed near a Reuters live-broadcast position in the first strike.
Witnesses, hospital officials and video from the scene showed journalists and emergency personnel converging on the damaged area before another impact struck the location. The Associated Press reported that footage showed rescue workers and journalists on an exterior staircase immediately before the subsequent explosion.
The five journalists killed were Hussam al-Masri, Mariam Abu Dagga, Mohammed Salama, Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmed Abu Aziz. They had worked for or contributed to organizations including Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye. Reuters photographer Hatem Khaled was wounded.
An earlier News Fusion 365 report examined the deaths of the journalists and the questions raised by the successive strikes.
Later UN Figures Put the Death Toll at 22
The casualty figure changed after the initial reporting. On August 28, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that Gaza's Ministry of Health reported 22 deaths from the Nasser Hospital strikes after two people died of their wounds on August 27.
According to that UN update, the dead included five journalists, a Palestinian Civil Defence driver, a doctor and three other medical staff. More than 30 people were reported injured. The World Health Organization said the hospital's main building, including areas housing emergency, inpatient and surgical services, was affected and that an emergency staircase was damaged.
UN Calls for a Prompt and Impartial Investigation
The UN Secretary-General's response focused on both accountability and the protected status of civilians performing medical and journalistic work. His spokesperson said Guterres strongly condemned the killings and called for a "prompt, and impartial investigation."
The statement stressed that medical personnel and journalists must be able to perform their duties without interference, intimidation or harm in accordance with international humanitarian law. It also reiterated the UN chief's calls at the time for a ceasefire, humanitarian access across Gaza and the release of all hostages.
The legal status of an attack on a hospital depends on the circumstances. Medical facilities receive special protection under international humanitarian law, although that protection can be affected in limited circumstances if a facility is used, outside its humanitarian function, to commit acts harmful to an enemy. Even then, the applicable rules governing distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack remain relevant. The circumstances surrounding the Nasser Hospital strikes therefore required investigation rather than assumptions about criminal intent based solely on the sequence of impacts.
Israel Says Troops Were Targeting a Camera
On August 26, the Israeli military released preliminary findings saying Golani Brigade troops had identified what they believed was a camera positioned by Hamas near Nasser Hospital to monitor Israeli forces and assist attacks against them. The military said troops acted to remove that perceived threat.
The claim did not settle key questions about the incident. The military's chief of staff ordered further examination of the authorization process, the ammunition approved for the strike, the timing of the authorization and decision-making in the field. Hamas denied that it was operating the camera described by Israel.
The Israeli military also said six people killed in the incident were militants, including one person it said had participated in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Those claims were made by the military and were not independently established by the initial inquiry itself.
An Israeli military spokesperson separately told Reuters that the journalists associated with Reuters and AP were not targets. The military did not allege that the five journalists killed were the militants it said had been identified among the dead.
Questions Remain About the Successive Strikes
One of the central unresolved issues was why additional fire hit the area after journalists, medical personnel and rescuers had gathered following the initial impact. Images and video of the incident showed emergency workers at the damaged staircase before another explosion struck.
That sequence led the incident to be widely described as a "double-tap" strike. The term describes successive attacks on the same or nearby location, but the sequence alone does not establish why the second strike was ordered or prove an intention to target rescuers or journalists. Establishing responsibility requires evidence about targeting information, authorization, weapons, timing and the precautions taken before each strike.
The Committee to Protect Journalists later called for an independent investigation, saying important questions remained about the decision-making behind the later impacts and the precautions taken once civilians and emergency personnel had converged on the site.
AP and Reuters Demand Answers
The Associated Press and Reuters jointly demanded a clear explanation from Israeli authorities. In an August 25, 2025 letter, the organizations said their journalists had been at the hospital in a professional capacity and called for a full and transparent accounting of what happened.
The issue remained unresolved a year later. On the first anniversary of the strikes, AP and Reuters said they were still seeking answers from Israeli authorities about the deaths of their colleagues. That continuing request underscored the distinction between Israel's preliminary military account and a comprehensive investigation establishing the full sequence of decisions and responsibility.
International Reaction
The strikes prompted criticism from governments as well as international organizations. A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the attack as "completely indefensible," while French President Emmanuel Macron called it "intolerable." Those statements represented the governments' political responses to the incident rather than legal findings about individual or state responsibility.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, said Israel deeply regretted the incident and characterized it as a "tragic mishap." The competing reactions highlighted the central factual question left to investigators: how an operation that Israel said was directed at a surveillance threat resulted in repeated impacts at a functioning hospital and the deaths of journalists, health workers, rescuers and other Palestinians.
Why the Journalists' Deaths Drew Particular Scrutiny
The Nasser Hospital deaths occurred amid an already severe toll on Palestinian journalists covering the Gaza war. International news organizations have depended heavily on Palestinian reporters, photographers and camera operators because Israel has generally prevented independent foreign journalists from entering Gaza during the conflict except under limited military arrangements.
The journalists killed at Nasser Hospital were therefore not only casualties of the wider conflict; several were providing material used by international news organizations to document events that foreign reporters could not independently access on the ground.
Press-freedom organizations have documented a historically high number of journalist and media-worker deaths during the war. Exact cumulative figures vary according to the date, methodology and organizations included, making source and timeframe important when comparing totals.
What Remains Unresolved
The basic sequence is well established: Israeli forces struck Nasser Hospital on August 25, journalists and rescuers responded to the initial impact, and additional fire hit the area. Five journalists were among those killed. Israel acknowledged responsibility for the strike, expressed regret for civilian deaths and said the intended target was a camera it believed Hamas was using for surveillance.
What remained contested was the intelligence behind that assessment, the authorization and choice of weapons, the reasons for the subsequent impacts, the precautions taken to protect civilians, and whether the operation complied with international humanitarian law. Those questions are precisely why the UN, news organizations and press-freedom groups called for a transparent and impartial investigation rather than treating either accusations of deliberate targeting or Israel's initial explanation as a final finding.
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