The Associated Press held an intense investigation into an Israeli military strike at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, killing 22 people, including five journalists, on August 25. Among the victims were Mariam Daga, who worked for AP and other news organizations, as was the cited Al -Waddan report. The investigation raises serious concerns about the Israeli army’s justification for the attack and how it was executed.
According to AP reports, the Israeli forces targeted what they claimed to be the position of Hamas monitoring on the external stairs of the hospital. The army claimed that they had noticed a “suspicious behavior” that includes a camera covered with a towel, which it interpreted as an attempt to conceal.
However, the Associated Press’s investigation revealed that the camera actually belongs to the Reuters video journalist Hafam Al -Masry, who was killed in the initial strike. AP collection evidence shows that Al -Masry routinely covered its equipment with a white cloth, a standard practice among journalists all over the world to protect cameras from the sun and dust. AP witnesses told the Al -Masry to be broadcast directly from this site almost daily for weeks before the attack.
The investigation found that the Israeli forces were monitoring the situation by drones, including about 40 minutes before the strike, which should have had enough time to properly identify the Masry and get to know him as a journalist who did his work.
The AP investigation documented that “Israel” hit the hospital four times separately on August 25, all without prior warning. The News Agency analysis also revealed many aspects of how the attacks are carried out:
Within ten minutes of the first strike, the Israeli forces hit the same site again while medical workers and journalists, including Dagga, arrived to help the wounded and report the accident. According to AP reports, experts in international law are such “dual” attacks that can constitute possible war crimes, as they appear to be designed to target rescue workers and the first respondents.
MNA
