Gaza Herald – Hamas has forcefully rejected Israeli military claims that its fighters were among the 21 Palestinians killed in Israel’s brutal double-tap strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, an attack that has sparked global condemnation and been described by rights groups as a war crime targeting civilians, medics, and journalists.
In a statement carried by Reuters on Wednesday, Hamas dismissed the Israeli army’s version of events as “fabricated propaganda” aimed at justifying the deliberate targeting of a protected medical facility. The group stressed that none of the 21 victims were members of Hamas and accused Israel of deliberately misleading the public to cover up what it called “a massacre against the humanitarian lifeline of southern Gaza.”
Israel’s military had earlier claimed that its “initial investigation” revealed the strike targeted a surveillance camera allegedly used by Hamas to track Israeli troop movements in the area. It also claimed that six Hamas fighters were killed in the attack. Hamas immediately challenged this, providing evidence that at least two of the individuals Israel named were not even present at the hospital, but had been killed elsewhere at different times, including one who died in al-Mawasi, several kilometers away.
Evidence From the Ground Contradicts Israel’s Story
The strike unfolded on Monday in full view of the international community. At the moment of the first blast, a live video feed operated by Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri suddenly went dark as the missile hit. Al-Masri was killed instantly. Moments later, as paramedics, civil defense workers, and fellow journalists rushed to the scene to rescue survivors, a second missile struck the same location.
That second strike killed four more journalists, Ahmed Abu Aziz, Mariam Abu Daqqa, Mohammad Salama, and Moaz Abu Taha, as well as rescue workers wearing high-visibility vests. Footage broadcast by a Jordanian news channel captured the second explosion in horrifying detail, showing unarmed civilians being obliterated as they attempted to help the wounded.
The attack followed Israel’s widely condemned “double-tap” tactic, a method of striking once, waiting for emergency responders and journalists to arrive, then striking again to maximize casualties. Human rights advocates have long described the tactic as a deliberate war crime, designed not only to kill but to terrorize those providing lifesaving aid.
Targeting of Humanitarian Workers and Journalists
International law explicitly protects hospitals, medical staff, journalists, and rescue teams in conflict zones. Yet Israel’s assault on Nasser Hospital fits into a broader pattern of systematically dismantling Gaza’s health sector and silencing voices documenting the devastation. The attack comes amid reports that Israel has repeatedly targeted hospitals, bombed convoys carrying food aid, and killed journalists covering the genocide.
Since October 7, Israel has killed more than 120 journalists in Gaza the deadliest toll for the press in any conflict in modern history. Rights organizations say this is not coincidental but a calculated effort to ensure that the atrocities unfolding inside the besieged enclave remain hidden from the outside world.
Medical staff, too, have been consistently targeted. Gaza’s Ministry of Health says dozens of doctors, nurses, and paramedics have been killed since the start of the war, while hospitals have been reduced to rubble or forced to operate without electricity, medicine, or clean water. Nasser Hospital itself has become a critical hub for treating the wounded from southern Gaza, making its targeting a devastating blow to the civilian population.
Broader Context of Israel’s Genocidal War
The Nasser Hospital massacre is only the latest atrocity in Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza. Since October 7, 2023, more than 62,000 Palestinians the majority women and children, have been killed, and over 158,000 have been injured. Thousands more remain missing under the rubble, while entire neighborhoods have been flattened. The siege has driven Gaza into famine, with starvation and malnutrition claiming more than 300 lives so far, including at least 117 children.
Hamas’s rejection of Israel’s account underscores what rights groups and independent observers have repeatedly documented: Israel routinely fabricates military justifications after massacring civilians, portraying its strikes as “legitimate” even when overwhelming evidence points to deliberate targeting of noncombatants.
Global Condemnation Mounts
The Nasser Hospital strike has triggered outrage worldwide. Journalists’ unions, humanitarian organizations, and rights monitors have called for independent investigations into Israel’s repeated use of double-tap strikes and its systematic targeting of the press. The Committee to Protect Journalists described the attack as “an assault not just on individual reporters, but on the principle of truth itself.”
UN officials and humanitarian watchdogs have also expressed alarm, warning that the deliberate targeting of hospitals and medical personnel violates international humanitarian law and could constitute crimes against humanity. Despite this, the United States and other Western governments have continued to shield Israel from accountability, blocking calls for an immediate ceasefire and investigations at the International Criminal Court.
A Pattern of Impunity
For Palestinians in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital massacre is not an isolated incident but part of a relentless campaign designed to break their will and erase their society. Hamas’s rejection of Israel’s account reflects a broader struggle against narratives that attempt to normalize the killing of civilians. As the death toll climbs and famine spreads, rights advocates argue that unless Israel is held accountable for crimes like the double-tap strike on Nasser Hospital, similar atrocities will continue unchecked.
