Israeli strike kills wounded journalist Hassan Eslaih, injures other patients at Gaza's Nasser Hospital

Israeli forces killed at least 42 Palestinians across Gaza on Monday and 11 on Tuesday morning, health officials said, as they resumed strikes on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis and killed Palestinian journalist Hassan Eslaih.

Eslaih was the director of the Alam24 News Agency as well as a freelancer with several leading international news organisations. He was previously wounded in an Israeli attack last month while he was in the media tent beside the Nasser Hospital, causing him burns and the loss of two fingers.

The most recent attack resulted in several patients seeking medical treatment being wounded, the Wafa news agency reported.

Hamas immediately denounced the attack, stating that at least two people were killed, and that medical staff were also wounded.

"The repeated targeting of hospitals and the pursuit and killing of wounded patients inside treatment rooms confirms the occupation forces’ deliberate intent to inflict greater damage to the health care system and threaten the treatment of the wounded and sick, even on hospital beds," the group said in a statement.

Gaza's government media office states that the number of journalists killed in Gaza since the start of the war on the Strip in 2023 is now 215, calling on the international journalism organisations to take action to stop what they called the systematic targeting of reporters.

Hamas releases captive

The killing of the journalist, which has been widely condemned around the world, comes after Hamas released US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander.

The group announced that they released the captive without conditions in the hope of working towards a lasting ceasefire in the Strip and for Israel to allow emergency aid in following over two months of blockade.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Monday issued a statement saying that Israel will continue its plans to expand the offensive on Gaza, but only after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region.

Israel also sent a delegation to Doha on Tuesday to try to negotiate a truce deal and free the remaining captives held. This comes after Netanyahu spoke with Trump, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee.

Netanyahu also stressed negotiations will be conducted "under dire" conditions and that the army's planned expanded offensive will go ahead if Hamas does not free more captives.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, confirmed to reporters on Monday that Israel would delay the operation, saying: "Israel is preparing for a major operation in Gaza, and we are not hiding this. We have called up reserves."

"If there is no progress in the negotiations, we will apply pressure, military pressure to secure the return of the hostages and eliminate Hamas," he added.

Meanwhile, Israel's minister of regional cooperation, David Amsalem, raised the alarm over Trump’s "unpredictable" decision-making, in comments made to Israeli broadcaster Kan.

"Tomorrow he’ll say one thing, and two days later something else. This is serious; it breaks all the longstanding rules in the relationship between the United States and Israel," he said.

Israel’s war on Gaza has devastated and displaced much of the Strip, with at least 61,700 Palestinians killed since October 2023.

 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) this week also confirmed that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has now reached "catastrophic levels".