Israeli strikes kill journalists in southern Gaza hospital

Norway's sovereign wealth fund has withdrawn its investments in five Israeli banking groups and a major US construction equipment firm on ethics grounds.

The $2 trillion (€1.72 trillion) fund, the biggest in the world, said the groups were excluded "due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict."

The five Israeli banks are Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, First International Bank of Israel and FIBI Holdings, the fund, which is operated by Norway's central bank, confirmed in a statement.

The fund has also divested from US construction group Caterpillar, stating that "there is no doubt that Caterpillar's products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law" and adding that "the company has also not implemented any measures to pre­vent such use."

The divestments come a week after the fund announced its intention to sell its stakes in six previously unnamed companies which it had been scrutinizing over their role in Israel's war in Gaza and Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.

The fund's initial focus had been on Israeli banks underwriting the building of settlements in the occupied West Bank, before the scope was expanded.

In December 20254, the Norwegian fund sold its stake in the Israeli telecoms group Bezeq, which it said was providing service to illegal settlements in the West Bank, as well as from Russian stell company Evraz, which it said was supporting Russia's war in Ukraine.

Jodie Ginsberg, an American journalist and the chief executive of the Committee to Protect Journalists, told DW that "it's absolutely clear" that Israel targets journalists, despite denials from the Israeli military.

Ginsberg said Israel has been carrying out the practice "not only in this war, but in the preceding decades", adding that the targeting of journalists amounts to "a war crime."

When asked why Israel would use such a tactic, Ginsberg said: "It's part of a pattern from Israel to control the narrative about what's happening inside Gaza."

She pointed to "the killings of journalists, the attacks on media facilities, the banning of news outlets like Al Jazeera" and the "throttling of news outlets" such as Israel's Haaretz daily, saying that her organization believes they amount to "a systematic attempt to censor information about what's happening inside Gaza and to cast doubt about what journalists are reporting."

"Remember, no international media has been allowed independent access to Gaza since the start of the war," she stressed.

Ginsberg described the day-to-day life for journalists in Gaza as "brutal", saying the reporters there are subjected to "the same deprivation as everyone else, the forced starvation by Israel of the Gazan people."

"We've had a situation in which at least three journalists have fainted live on air," she said.

US President Donald Trump said that he believes Israel's war in Gaza could come to its "pretty good, conclusive ending" in the next two to three weeks.

"It has to end, but people cannot forget October 7th," Trump said, referring to the terrorist attack carried out by Hamasand other Palestinian groups on October 7, 2023, which claimed the lives of some 1,200 people in Israel.

Trump also said there is a "very serious diplomatic push" on securing a ceasefire in Gaza.

More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the enclave. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed the country's "regret" over the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike on the Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip's south that killed at least 20 people, among them journalists and aid workers.

"Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians," the Israeli leader posted on his X account, emphasizing that the IDF's authorities are conducting an investigation.

"Our war is with Hamas terrorists. Our just goals are defeating Hamas and bringing our hostages home," Netanyahu said.

The posts come amid the widespread condemnation of the Israeli strikes from allies of Israel and human rights organizations.

In August 2024, Israel struck a three-car convoy in Gaza belonging to food relief organization World Central Kitchen, leaving seven aid workers dead. Netanyahu had also said that attack was "tragic" and unintended.  

Germany's Federal Foreign Office said it is "shocked" over the deaths of journalists, aid workers and other civilians in Israeli strikes on the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, saying the attack must be investigated.

"Journalists' work is crucial to portray the devastating reality of the war in Gaza," the ministry posted on its official X account, adding Germany has repeatedly called for the Israeli government to allow journalists to enter Gaza, while also making sure media employees within the Gaza Strip are safe.

US President Donald Trump said he is "not happy" about the Israeli strikes that killed at least 20 people, including 5 journalists, at Nasser Hospital in Gaza. 

"I'm not happy about it… We have to end that nightmare," Trump said, adding that one or two of the twenty Israeli hostages believed to be held by militant groups in Gaza are "gone."

There are 50 Israeli hostages currently still in Gaza who were taken in the October terror attacks, with Israel earlier estimating that 20 of them are still alive. 

The United Nations responded to the Israeli attack at the Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed at least 20 people by insisting journalists and hospitals should not be targeted. At least five journalists have died in the Israeli strikes in southern Gaza. 

"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 in a statement.

"Journalists are not a target, hospitals are not a target," she added.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said the strikes are "silencing the last remaining voices reporting about children dying silently amid famine."

"This cannot be the new norm," Lazzarini posted on his X account, also labeling the world's "indifference and inaction" as "shocking."

World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, too, took to his X account to condemn the strikes, mentioning the aid workers hit by the Israeli army's missiles.

"We cannot say it loudly enough: STOP the attack on health care. Ceasefire now!"

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said he opposes the Israeli government's planned new military offensive into Gaza City.

Approximately 1 million people remain in Gaza City, which Israel says it plans to displace before the offensive.

"Our credibility as a global European actor depends on consistency, in defending international law, opposing terror and protecting civilian lives," Wadephul said as he spoke at the Croatian Ambassadors' Conference in Zagreb.

"In our view, the decision by the Israeli Cabinet to take over Gaza City and intensify ground operations does not promote either of those goals."

Some civilians have gone to Khan Younis or Rafah in the south, but say camps remain overcrowded and lack supplies. The majority of civilians have chosen to remain in Gaza City, unsure of the safest place to be.

It is believed that Hamas continues to hold some hostages in Gaza but, with Israel claiming to have destroyed large parts of the terrorist organization's tunnel network, it is unclear how much of the underground system remains.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) demanded an "immediate explanation" for the Israeli attack which claimed the lives of five journalists at a Gazahospital.

"We demand an immediate explanation from the Israel Defense Forces and the prime minister's office," the group said in a statement, adding a call for Israel to "once and for all halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists."

At least 19 people were killed by a double missile strike by the Israel army at Gaza's Nasser Hospital, according to the authorities in Gaza, with four journalists being among the casualties. 

After a first strike hit the top floor of a building at the hospital, a second missile hit in the same spot, after journalists and rescue workers rushed to the scene.

The Israeli army said it is looking into the incident.

According to Reporters without Borders (RSF), over 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military since October 2023.

The Reuters news agency has called on Gaza and Israel authorities to provide more information on the death of a journalist who had worked with the agency and the injury of another. 

"We are devastated to learn of the death of Reuters contractor Hussam al-Masri and injuries to another of our contractors, Hatem Khaled, in Israeli strikes on the Nasser hospital in Gaza today," a Reuters spokesperson said in a statement. 

"We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem," the spokesperson added. 

The Associated Press (AP) news agency said in a statement that it was shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Mariam Dagga. 

The 33-year-old visual journalist had freelanced for the agency since the start of the war, the AP said. She frequently based herself at Nasser hospital, most recently reporting on the doctors struggling to save children from starvation, the agency added. 

Two other journalists were reportedly killed in the strikes in the southern city of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. 

Al Jazeera has also condemned the killing of journalists in Khan Younis. 

"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 in a statement. 

Israel's military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani confirmed that Israeli troops launched a strike "in the area of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis" in southern Gaza on Monday. 

"An initial inquiry" into the strike will be conducted as soon as possible, Shoshani said on X. 

He said the Israeli Defense Force "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such." 

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

Monday's strike came weeks after Israel killed a group of media workers in Gaza, several of whom worked with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, claiming they were affiliated with the with Hamas militant group. 

Israeli television Channel 13 quoted military chief Eyal Zamir as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should accept a ceasefire proposal to free the remaining hostages.

"There is a deal on the table, it is the improved Witkoff deal, we must accept it," he told commanders during a visit to a naval base in Haifa, according to Channel 13. 

US special envoy Steve Witkoff had negotiated a deal that provides for a 60-day ceasefire, during which 10 living hostages would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. 

"The army has created the conditions for a hostage deal, now it is in the hands of Netanyahu," Zamir reportedly added.

Zamir was also reported to have opposed expanding Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and taking over Gaza City, a decision that was later reached by the Security Cabinet. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel was prepared to support Lebanon in its efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

Lebanon's Cabinet has backed a disarmament roadmap put forward by US envoy Tom Barrack, who outlined the most detailed proposal yet for curbing Hezbollah's military power.

Netanyahu's office said that if the Lebanese Army begins implementing that plan, Israel will consider reducing its military presence, in coordination with a US-led security mechanism.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah exchanged near-daily fire after the Hamas terror attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and the following Israeli offensive in Gaza, until last November, when the United States brokered a ceasefire.

The US then called on Lebanon to confiscate all "unauthorized" weapons across the country and said Israel would stop offensive operations against Lebanese targets.

Israel has, however, maintained troops at five positions along the southern border and continued to launch air strikes into Lebanon, saying it's targeting Hezbollah fighters and weapons facilities.

Hezbollah has rejected the disarmament plan.

Reuters news agency reported, citing witnesses, that Israel hit Nasser hospital twice on Monday, with the second hit landing after rescue workers and journalists rushed to the site of the initial attack. 

Cameraman Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters contractor, was reportedly killed in the first strike, while photographer Hatem Khaled, another contractor with the news agency, was wounded in the second strike. 

Reuters' live video feed from the hospital suddenly shut down at the moment of the initial strike, the agency's footage showed.

Footage from Egyptian television appeared to show the second strike hitting the hospital, with the commentator saying: "The civil defense is gone." 

DW could not independently verify the footage.

Gaza's Health Ministry said at least eight people were killed in an Israeli strike on the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Journalists were reported to be among those killed, including those who had worked for Al Jazeera broadcaster and Reuters news agency. 

Al Jazeera later reported, citing the Gaza government's media office, that 14 people were killed in the strike in Khan Younis, including four journalists. 

Reuters reported, citing Palestinian officials, that a cameraman and a photographer who had worked with the news agency were among the four.

They were identified as: Hossam al-Masri, a photojournalist with Reuters news agency; Mohammed Salama, a photojournalist with Al Jazeera; Mariam Abu Daqa, who reported for outlets including the Independent Arabic and the Associated Press; and Moaz Abu Taha. 

The journalists were on "a press coverage mission at Nasser Hospital," according to the media office of the Hamas-governed Palestinian territory.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The reports come weeks after Israel killed a group of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, claiming they were "Hamas terrorists."