Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Two Israeli airstrikes in short succession Monday on the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least 20 people, including journalists from several organizations.
Officials from the Hamas-run health ministry said emergency medical personnel and first responders were among the fatalities, with many more people injured.
The emergency response workers and ambulance crews were killed and injured when they were caught in the second strike, a so-called "double-tap," as they rushed to help those hit in the initial strike, according to the hospital, which is in Khan Younis.
The journalists were killed when a hospital balcony, popular with the press because of the view it afforded over the city, was hit. They were named as Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammad Salama, Reuters contractor Hussam Al-Masri, Associated Press stringer Mariam Abu Dagga and freelancer Moath Abu Taha.
A worker in the Gaza Civil Defense was also killed.
Reuters, which was "urgently seeking information" regarding Al-Masri, said the news was shattering, while AP said it was "shocked and saddened" by the loss of Dagga.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged carrying out an attack near the hospital.
Saying that the head of the military had ordered the opening of an initial investigation as soon as possible, the IDF stressed that it "does not target journalists as such."
The Gaza war has been one of the most dangerous conflicts ever for journalists, with almost 200 killed since Oct. 7, 2023, said the Committee to Protect Journalists, which is based in New York City.
CPJ said more reporters and other members of the press had been killed in the past two years than those killed globally between 2020 and 2023.
Journalists, camera crews and other personnel working inside Gaza are predominantly local staff, contractors or freelancers covering events for regional and international news organizations since Israel has blocked journalists from those media from entering Gaza -- other than when they are embedded with the IDF.
The BBC said it had seen footage in which a doctor is filmed showing bloodied clothing to journalists when a blast from a second strike is caught on camera.
On Aug. 10, the Israeli military said it had carried out the targeted killing of Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif, on grounds that he had previously served as the head of a Hamas "terror" cell.
IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee previously alleged al-Sharif had been a member of Hamas' military wing since 2013.
Al-Sharif died alongside four of his colleagues in a strike on a tent in which they were living near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
The United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the attack was a serious violation of international law, while the CPJ called out what is said was "a pattern of the Israeli state labelling journalists as militants without any evidence."
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