DaysofPal- The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations stated that the Israeli occupation has carried out a “premeditated strike on medics and journalists” in last week’s deadly attack on Nasser Hospital, which killed at least 22 people, including five journalists and several medical workers.
The comments by envoy Riyad Mansour at the UN Security Council on 27 August follow a detailed investigation by Sky News that casts doubt on the Israeli military’s account of the incident.
At around 10 a.m. on 25 August, Reuters journalist Hossam Al Masri, 49, was livestreaming from the top balcony of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
His footage showed smoke rising from a distant blast before the feed abruptly cut off, and minutes later, the hospital stairwell where Al Masri had been filming was hit by an Israeli strike.
Rescue teams and fellow journalists rushed to the scene, recovering Al Masri’s body and that of another victim.
However, eight minutes later, a second strike hit the same stairwell, killing many of those involved in rescue efforts.
Health officials later confirmed that 22 people died, among them a doctor, hospital staff, a civil defense worker, and five journalists.
Sky News analysis of video evidence indicates that two precision-guided munitions struck the hospital in quick succession, consistent with Lahat laser-guided missiles fired from tanks or helicopters.
Satellite imagery taken hours later showed six Israeli tanks stationed at a fortified base 2.4km northeast of the hospital, though their involvement could not be independently confirmed.
Disputed Israeli Claims
The Israeli occupation forces claimed the strike targeted a Hamas “observation camera” monitoring troop movements from the hospital, alleging that six militants were killed.
But Sky News confirmed that the camera belonged to Reuters, which had been livestreaming from the balcony for weeks.
Hospital director Dr. Atef Al Hout also stated that Al Masri was the only person present on that floor.
While Sky News verified that one of the six men named by the IDF was a combatant, evidence shows he was killed in a separate battle east of Khan Younis, not at Nasser Hospital.
Hamas has denied that any of its fighters were killed in the hospital strike, calling the Israeli account “baseless.”
The Israeli occupation forces have not explained why a second strike was launched as medics and journalists searched for survivors.
Monitors say such “double-tap” strikes, where a second attack follows the first, have been documented at least 24 times during the war, raising concerns about deliberate targeting of rescue workers.
International legal experts told Sky News that hospitals are protected under international law unless they are used for hostile purposes, and even then, advance warning must be issued, nothing of which the Israeli forces have done.
The Foreign Press Association described the bombing as “one of the deadliest Israeli attacks on journalists working for international media since the Gaza war began,” stressing that it came without warning.
According to Gaza governmental office, at least 244 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, whereas the Aid Worker Security Database has documented over 500 aid and rescue worker deaths, not including 139 civil defense personnel reported killed.
Former U.S. Ambassador for War Crimes Stephen Rapp told Sky News that “an independent investigation is clearly warranted.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials say the hospital strike highlights the Israeli “systematic targeting of civilians and journalists” amid the ongoing Israeli genocide.
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