Israel has claimed a double strike on a Gaza hospital that killed 20 people, including five journalists, was a "tragic mishap", amid global condemnation of its actions.
The attack on Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Monday left dozens wounded.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said it “deeply regrets” the strike, calling it a “tragic mishap”.
“Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians. The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation,” the statement said.
Most of Gaza's hospitals have been left in ruins by strikes in the past two years, and there will be deep scepticism of the Israeli statement.
"I'm not happy about it," US President Donald Trump said when he was informed of the attack on the hospital. "I don't want to see it. At the same time, we have to end that ... nightmare," he said of the war in Gaza.
The journalists were Hussam Al Masri, a photographer with Reuters; Mohammad Salama, a cameraman for Al Jazeera TV channel; Mariam Dagga, a freelancer with AP; Ahmed Abu Aziz, who worked for Quds Feed; and Moaz Abu Taha.
Reuters confirmed the death of Mr Al Masri and said another photographer, Hatem Khaled, who was also a Reuters contractor, was injured. A spokesman for Al Jazeera TV confirmed Mr Salama's death.
“Al Jazeera Media Network condemns, in the strongest possible terms, this horrific crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, who have directly targeted and assassinated journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth,” the broadcaster said.
The Associated Press said Ms Dagga, 33, had contributed as a freelancer to the agency, as well as other news outlets, since the Gaza war began. She reported on Al Nasser Hospital doctors struggling to save children who were dying from starvation, it said.
The UN said journalists and hospitals should never be the targets of attacks. "The killing of journalists in Gaza should shock the world – not into stunned silence but into action, demanding accountability and justice," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said. "Journalists are not a target. Hospitals are not a target."
Earlier in August, Israel acknowledged killing six journalists in a strike on a tent near Gaza city. Five of them belonged to an Al Jazeera crew. The Committee to Protect Journalists said more than 180 journalists have been killed since the war started on October 7, 2023.
Rights advocates said at the time that Anas Al Sharif, one of the journalists killed, was attacked for his frontline reporting on the war. Describing him as “one of Gaza's bravest journalists”, Al Jazeera said the attack was a “desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza”.
Hamas denounced the latest attacks, calling them a “war crime and horrific massacre”.
The Foreign Press Association called for an “immediate explanation” on the incident from the Israeli military and the prime minister's office.
“We call on Israel once and for all to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists,” the group added.
Wave of attacks
Earlier on Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry said a strike hit the fourth floor of Al Nasser Hospital, followed by a second attack when ambulance and civil defence crews arrived to retrieve the injured and the bodies of the dead.
The ministry said patients, medical staff and civil defence members were among those killed. Gaza's civil defence had said one of its rescuers was killed and seven more were injured while trying to help the wounded and recover the dead.
The head of the World Health Organisation called for an end to attacks on healthcare infrastructure. "While people in Gaza are being starved, their already limited access to health care is being further crippled by repeated attacks," WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. "We cannot say it loudly enough: stop attacks on health care. Ceasefire now."
He added that 50 people had been wounded in the strikes, including critically ill patients at the hospital.
Also on Monday, at least nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip, official news agency Wafa reported.
A medical source at Al Shifa Hospital said five people from one family were killed and several more were injured in a strike on a house in the Al Karama area of Gaza city. A woman was killed and seven injured in a strike on a tent sheltering displaced people in Al Mawasi, near Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Three were killed in an attack on a team in charge of bringing food to Deir Al Balah in central Gaza.
Another 11 people died of malnutrition in the 24 hours to Monday, the Health Ministry said, taking the total to 300, including 117 children. The UN officially declared a famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming “systematic obstruction” of food and aid deliveries by Israel during more than 22 months of war.
A UN report warned the famine would extend to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis in the south by the end of September. Malnutrition had already affected more than 132,000 children under the age of five as of June, including 41,000 severe cases, it said.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 62,740 Palestinians and injured at least 158,255 since October 7, 2023, the enclave's Health Ministry said.
Israel has pressed ahead with plans to occupy Gaza city despite an international outcry, saying that taking the territory's largest city is key to defeating Hamas.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostage. Israel's war on Gaza has since killed more than 62,740 Palestinians and has left much of the territory in ruins.
