DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel struck a media tent outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip early Monday, killing two people, including a local reporter, and wounding six other journalists, medics said. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a man it says was a Hamas militant posing as a journalist.
Twenty-eight other people were killed in separate strikes, according to hospitals.
Israel has carried out waves of strikes across Gaza and ground forces have carved out new military zones since it ended its ceasefire with Hamas last month. Israel has barred the import of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid for well over a month as it seeks to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the truce agreement they reached in January.
The strike outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at around 2 a.m. set the media tent ablaze, killing Yousef al-Faqawi, a reporter for the Palestine Today news website, and another man, according to the hospital.
The military said the strike targeted Hassan Eslaiah, who it said was a Hamas militant who had entered Israel and taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Eslaiah was among six journalists who were wounded in the strike, according to the hospital.
Eslaiah had occasionally contributed images to The Associated Press and other international media outlets as a freelance journalist, including on Oct. 7. The AP has not worked with him for over a year.
Israel also struck tents on the edge of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, wounding three people, according to the hospital.
Nasser Hospital said it received another 20 bodies, including eight women and five children, from separate strikes overnight and into Monday. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said two additional strikes on homes in Deir al-Balah killed eight people, including three women and three children.
Thousands shelter at hospitals
Thousands of people have sheltered in tents set up inside hospital compounds throughout the 18-month war, assuming Israel would be less likely to target them. Israel has raided hospitals on several occasions, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by hospital staff.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack. They abducted 251 people, and are still holding 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel has vowed to keep escalating military pressure until Hamas releases the remaining hostages, lays down its arms and leaves the territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will then implement U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle much of Gaza’s population to other countries through what the Israeli leader refers to as “voluntary emigration.”
Palestinians say they do not want to leave their homeland, and human rights experts have warned that implementing the Trump proposal would likely amount to mass expulsion in violation of international law.
Protests in Israel as Netanyahu meets Trump
Netanyahu will meet with Trump in Washington on Monday to discuss Gaza and other issues.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem to call for an agreement to release the captives. Many fear that Netanyahu’s decision to resume the fighting has put the remaining hostages in grave danger and hope Trump can help broker another deal.
“Now the moment of truth has come,” said Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, addressing Netanyahu. “You are in the United States and you have to sit there with President Trump and close a deal so that everyone will be released home.”
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants or civilians. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and at its height displaced around 90% of its population.
