Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says an Israeli strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed 20 people, including five journalists, was a “tragic mishap”.

On Monday he said Israel “values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians” and the military is investigating.

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Israel struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others.

The UN secretary-general, along with the UK, France and others, condemned the attack.

Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor, was killed near a live broadcasting position operated by Reuters on an upper floor just below the roof of the hospital in Khan Younis in an initial strike, according to Palestinian health officials.

Officials at the hospital and witnesses said Israel then struck the site a second time, killing other journalists, as well as rescue workers and medics who had rushed to the scene to help.

The other journalists killed were 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.

Photographer Hatem Khaled, also a Reuters contractor, was wounded.

Israel’s military, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), acknowledged striking the area of Nasser hospital.

The IDF “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such,” it said.

“The IDF acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible while maintaining the safety of IDF troops.”

Reuters said: “We are devastated to learn that cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a contractor for Reuters, was killed this morning in Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in Gaza.

“Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist whose work had been occasionally published by Reuters, was also killed, and photographer Hatem Khaled, a Reuters contractor, was wounded.

“We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem.”

AP said it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the deaths of Abu Dagga and other journalists, adding Abu Dagga had often based herself at the hospital for coverage, which recently included stories on starving and malnourished children.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned Israel for the strikes, saying it represented “an open war against free media, with the aim of terrorising journalists and preventing them from fulfilling their professional duty of exposing its crimes to the world”.

More than 240 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the war started on October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.

Israel has barred all foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in 2023.

Reporting from the territory throughout the war has been produced by Palestinian journalists, many of whom have worked for many years for international media organisations, including wire services such as Reuters and Associated Press.

— With AP