Palestinian journalists pray over the body of their colleague Hassan Aslih, killed at dawn in an Israeli strike which hit the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, during his funeral in the southern Gaza Strip city. AFP
The strike, which Hamas said happened at dawn, ended a brief pause in fighting to allow the release of a US-Israeli captive.
The health ministry in Gaza said the strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza's main city, killed two people and wounded several others, while the government media office said journalist Hassan Aslih was "assassinated".
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the Gaza civil defence agency, said that "the Israeli army bombed the surgery building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at dawn on Tuesday, killing journalist Hassan Aslih".
Aslih, head of the Alam24 news outlet, had been at the hospital for treatment after being wounded in a strike on April 7, according to Ismail al-Thawabtah, director general of the Hamas media office.
Two other journalists, Ahmed Mansur and Hilmi al-Faqaawi, were killed in that bombing that hit a media tent, it was reported at the time.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the attack.
AFP footage from Nasser Hospital after Tuesday's strike showed smoke rising from the facility as rescuers searched through the rubble to the light of torches.
A hospital worker who gave his name as Abu Ghali said the Israeli bombardment "does not differentiate between civilians and military targets".
"This is a civilian hospital that receives injured people around the clock," he told AFP.
Israel’s war on Gaza has created one of the deadliest environments for media professionals in modern history.
Since the start of the assault, Israeli forces have killed an estimated 209 Palestinian journalists.
These killings, described by the Arab League as deliberate and systematic, form part of a broader pattern of targeting local reporters while barring international media access.
On World Press Freedom Day, the Arab League condemned Israel’s actions as a flagrant breach of international law and a direct attack on press freedom.
Israel resumed its genocidal war on Gaza on March 18 as it unilaterally ended a two-month truce with Hamas.
The health ministry in Gaza said Monday at least 2,749 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,862, most of whom are women and children.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online
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