Israeli double tap attack on Nasser hospital is silencing Gaza's truths

The Israeli strike on Gaza's Nasser hospital in Khan Younis on Monday was not just another episode in a long, brutal genocidal war.

It was a moment that seemed to rupture the collective conscience of Palestinians and the world, a double tap airstrike that claimed 20 lives, including doctors, paramedics, and at least five journalists, who died with holding cameras that documented the very war that consumed them.

Speaking to The New Arab, eyewitnesses described that the first missile struck the upper floors of the hospital's reception building, sending shockwaves through the complex.

"Journalists, medics, and rescue workers rushed toward the scene, carrying cameras, stretchers, and first aid kits. Minutes later, a second strike hit the stairwell, where they had gathered," Heba Dawas, a nurse at the hospital, recalled to TNA.

"It was as if the drone was waiting for us to assembly. We were all wearing vests that clearly identified us—PRESS or AMBULANCE—but that did not matter. The goal was to kill us twice, first as humans, and second as witnesses," she said.

Mohammed Zaqout, Director General of Gaza's hospitals, described the scene, voice trembling, "It was a criminal strike that targeted the operating room, where many medical students and doctors were present, killing many of them in the first attack."

"The greater tragedy occurred when civil defence teams, paramedics, and journalists gathered to carry out rescue efforts, only to be targeted again. Dozens suffered horrific head, neck, and chest injuries, doctors, assistants, civil defence personnel, and journalists," he added to TNA.

"The attack was not only a violation of a medical sanctuary but also a direct assault on the guardians of truth," he concluded.

Israel's claims are getting flimsier 

The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted "cameras that were on the roof of the hospital that were used by Hamas fighters."

They further claimed that its forces attacked the cameras and killed six of the fighters in the attack.

 Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident "tragic," claiming Israel does not target civilians or journalists. "Our war is with Hamas terrorists," he said, "and we deeply regret every innocent life that was lost."

Hamas categorically denied Israel's claims, asserting that all victims were civilians. Gaza's Government Media Office accused Israel of committing "a systematic crime against the Palestinian press," holding not only Tel Aviv but also its Western allies responsible, in particularly the United States of America, responsible.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate described the attack as part of "a deliberate strategy to silence free speech," noting that 245 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of the war in October 2023.

"No war zone in modern history has witnessed this scale of killing of media professionals," the syndicate noted in their statement.

International watchdogs also spoke out. Reporters Without Borders condemned the incident as "a blatant attack on the right to information," while the Committee to Protect Journalists demanded "an independent, transparent investigation."

Yet for many in Gaza, these condemnations feel hollow. "The world watches, counts our dead, and then issues statements," Umm Wael, a Gaza-based mother of three sheltering near the hospital, told TNA.

"Unfortunately, no one stops the killing. My children ask me: Why do they kill journalists? I tell them: because journalists show the truth," she said.

Human faces behind cameras

The five journalists killed at Nasser Hospital were not faceless professionals. They were fathers, daughters, lovers, and friends, human beings with unfinished dreams.

Mariam Abu Daqqa, 33, was a rising journalist who had worked with Independent Arabia and the Associated Press.

She was a divorced single mum to her only son, Ghaith. She did her best to raise him to a stable level. Not yet, the Israeli attack killed her, her dreams and left her son in an orphanage forever.

"She was not only a great woman, but she was also my best daughter, whom I am proud of wherever," Riyad Abu Daqqa, Mariam's father, told TNA.

"I never imagined that I would lose her someday, despite her journalism career. I thought that the army knew that she was an innocent person. But the fact is that our enemy wants to kill all the truth tellers to hide its crimes against our people," he said.

Hossam al-Masri, a Reuters cameraman, died live on air, his camera still recording. "The whole world saw Hussam's martyrdom," Ezz al-Din al-Masri, Hussam's brother, told TNA.

Behind the lens, Hossam carried private burdens. His wife had been battling cancer, and he had spent weeks desperately searching for Gaza for medicine.

"He told me once, 'If I die, don't leave my wife alone,'" his brother said. After news of his death, his wife repeatedly fainted, her grief compounding her illness.

Mohammed Salama, an Al Jazeera cameraman, had been preparing to marry his colleague and fiancée, Hala Asfour.

Instead, Hala cradled his shattered body in the hospital courtyard, whispering their wedding plans into his ear until she collapsed.

"The army killed their happiness and left Hala alone with her grieving," Zarifa Hassan, Hala's friend, told TNA.

Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist for NBC and other outlets, was renowned for his courage.

"Moaz never hesitated to go where the fire was hottest. He used to say: If we don't document it, history will be written without us," Samid Abu Zarifa, Moaz's friend, told TNA.

Ahmed Abu Aziz, a young reporter for Quds Feed, was just beginning his career. "He always said he wanted to be the voice of his generation," said his friend Nour. "Now that voice is gone, silenced too soon."

Ordinary Palestinians in Gaza view the Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital not as an isolated incident but as part of a broader war on survival.

"First they destroy our homes, then our schools, and now our hospitals […] When they kill journalists, it is because they don't want the world to see. When they kill doctors, it is because they don't want us to heal," Abu Youssef, a displaced father of six sheltering in Khan Younis, told TNA.

"This is not war, this is erasure. They want us to vanish without witnesses […] They were our eyes to the world," she said.

While Reuters, Al Jazeera, and the Associated Press issued statements of mourning, and rights groups condemned the attack, many Palestinians feel abandoned.

"These statements are important, but they change nothing. We bury our martyrs, and the world debates semantics," Mohammed al-Shaer, a civil defence worker who lost a colleague in the blast, told TNA.

Civil Defence officials confirmed that alongside the journalists, firefighter Imad Abdul Karim al-Shaer was also killed, with seven others critically injured.

Since Israel's war began in October 2023, at 139 civil defence personnel have been killed. "Even those who pull bodies from the rubble are not spared," Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson of the civil defence, said.

The Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital sent a grim message: in Gaza, neither cameras nor stethoscopes provide protection.