Israel's latest attack in south Gaza has taken the death toll of Palestinian journalists to 240
Flak jackets and cameras are placed on the bodies of journalists killed in Gaza. (Reuters: Stringer)
Five journalists were among at least 20 Palestinians killed on Monday when two Israeli strikes hit Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza in quick succession.
In videos, journalists and rescue workers can be seen rushing to the scene of the first attack, before an explosion hits an exterior staircase where journalists are often stationed.
It was among the deadliest of multiple Israeli strikes that have hit both hospitals and journalists over the course of the 22-month war.
In response to ABC questioning on the latest strike and the alleged targeting of journalists in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "does not intentionally target civilians".
"We regret any harm to uninvolved individuals and are committed to continue fighting Hamas, while taking all the necessary precautions, IDF spokesperson BG Effie Defrin said. .
The so-called "double-tap" strike on Monday — the practice of following an attack with a second strike after journalists and rescue workers rush to the scene — is becoming a "deeply concerning pattern" from Israel, according to Jodie Ginsberg, director of The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
"This is the deadliest conflict for journalists that CPJ has ever documented, and that includes 26 killings where we believe Israel has deliberately targeted journalists knowing them to be journalists," Ginsberg said.
"Journalists are considered civilians in a war setting, and must never be targeted and to do so, knowingly and deliberately, constitutes a war crime."
In a statement released by his office on Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu described the strikes as a "tragic mishap".
"A mishap is something that might happen when you spill a glass of water, it's not how you describe the killing of 20 civilians in what is potentially a war crime,"Ginsberg said.
The deaths bring the total number of journalists killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war to 240, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
This includes freelancers and staffers, veterans with years in the field and young reporters on some of their first assignments.
Some were killed with their families at home, others were in vehicles marked "PRESS," in tents near hospitals or while covering the violence.
With foreign journalists banned from independently entering Gaza since October 7, 2023, reporting on Israeli attacks from Gaza has been left to Palestinian journalists.
More journalists have been killed in Gaza than in any other war, according to a report by the Costs of War Project at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.
This includes the US Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, according to the report.
And in its annual World Press Freedom Index 2025, published on May 3, Reporters Without Borders concluded that Gaza had become the world's most dangerous territory for journalists.
Reporters Without Borders has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to examine what it called Israel's failure to uphold the UN resolution protecting independent journalists in times of conflict.
What journalists have been killed?
The five journalists killed in Monday's attack included journalists working for Al Jazeera, Reuters, the Associated Press and Middle East Eye, a UK-based media outlet, most on a contractor or freelance basis.
Freelance journalist Mariam Dagga had been working with the Associated Press and other outlets during the Gaza war. (AP: Jehad Alshrafi)
Reuters said that ahead of the first strike, it was showing a live video feed filmed from the hospital when the feed suddenly shut down.
Reuters contractor cameraman Hussam al-Masri was filming the live video and was killed in the first strike, Reuters said.
Other journalists killed included Mariam Abu Dagga, who freelanced for the Associated Press and other outlets, Mohammed Salama, who worked for Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist who worked with several news organisations including occasionally contributing to Reuters, and Ahmed Abu Aziz.
Palestinian cameraman Hussam al-Masri pictured while working at Nasser hospital on August 7, 2024. (Reuters)
The deadliest day for journalists in the Gaza war was two weeks ago, when six journalists were killed — five of them with Al Jazeera — in a targeted Israeli strike.
Al Jazeera said its entire Gaza City reporting team was killed when Israel bombed a journalists' tent in Gaza City: well-known Arabic correspondent Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh were killed along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa.
The IDF had claimed since last October that al-Sharif was part of a group of Al Jazeera journalists working for Hamas and Islamic Jihad, something which Al Jazeera repeatedly denied.
Palestinian journalist Mohammed Salama worked for Al Jazeera. (Handout via Reuters)
Ms Ginsberg said the attack on Al Jazeera's team in Gaza City was just one of several where civilians were targeted by Israel.
"We've seen over and over again civilians targeted," she said, adding that Israel "has provided very little credible evidence" as to why.
"Civilians must be protected in any war setting, and that includes journalists."
The Monday statement from Mr Netanyahu's office said that Israel "values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians".
"The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation," it said.
"Our war is with Hamas terrorists."
Moaz Abu Taha was a Palestinian journalist who worked with some Palestinian and international outlets. (AFP: Bashar Taleb)
Other well-known journalists who have lost their lives over the course of the war include: Hamza Dahdouh, who was killed in a January 2024 drone strike after leaving a reporting assignment; Ayat Khadoura, who became known for reporting on bombs striking her northern Gaza neighbourhood; and Hossam Shabat, a freelancer who was killed while reporting for Al Jazeera in March 2025.
Well-known photojournalist Fatima Hassouna was also killed by a strike in May, just one day after learning a documentary about her life in Gaza was to premiere in Cannes.
Fatima is the protagonist of an upcoming documentary screening in Cannes in May. (Supplied: Fatma_hassona2 via Instagram)
Silencing Palestinian media
Press freedom advocates say they have never seen such a severe step backward for reporters' safety.
"[The IDF] are doing everything they can to silence independent voices that are trying to report on Gaza," Thibaut Bruttin, the director-general of Reporters Without Borders, said.
Ms Ginsberg said Palestinian journalists were "our eyes and our ears" for what was happening inside Gaza.
"It is no coincidence that we are seeing an increase in these attacks as we are seeing incursion from Israel into Gaza,"she said.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said the most recent attack "represents a dangerous escalation in the direct and deliberate targeting of Palestinian journalists".
"This confirms without a shadow of a doubt that the occupation is waging an open war on free media, with the aim of terrorising journalists and preventing them from carrying out their professional mission of exposing its crimes to the world," the syndicate said in a statement.
Ms Ginsberg said there needed to be a thorough investigation into the recent attacks but added, "we rarely see transparent investigations from Israel into the killing of journalists".
The IDF said in a statement it was "committed to international law" and as such was "obligated to investigate our operations thoroughly and professionally".
"The Chief of the General Staff has instructed that an inquiry be conducted immediately — to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened," the statement said.
"We will present our findings as transparently as possible."
ABC/wires