The Palestinian Presidency condemned on Monday the killing of five journalists by Israel while performing their professional duties in an airstrike targeting them at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza Strip, describing it as a “war crime.” It called on the international community to take urgent action to protect journalists and hold Tel Aviv accountable.

According to the Palestinian official news agency WAFA, the strike killed five journalists and 15 other Palestinians, including a fire truck driver and a sixth-year medical student. The Israeli army targeted a journalist working on the top floor of the emergency building known as “Al-Yaseen” at the hospital, resulting in his death and other casualties.

When journalists and civil defense personnel gathered to perform humanitarian tasks, the army struck them again, causing more deaths and injuries.

The Presidency strongly condemned the “heinous crime” committed by the Israeli occupation army at Nasser Complex, which led to the martyrdom of five Palestinian journalists while fulfilling their professional and humanitarian duties covering the genocide against the Palestinian people.

It considered the targeting of journalists a blatant violation of international law and agreements that guarantee the protection of journalists and freedom of the press.

This attack was described as a new war crime added to a long series of crimes and massacres committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people in an attempt to silence the voice of truth represented by the Palestinian media.

The Presidency called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council and the United Nations, to urgently act to protect journalists and hold the occupation accountable amid ongoing targeting.

It held the Israeli occupation government fully responsible for this “heinous” crime and called on human rights organizations and relevant international bodies to intervene immediately to stop these systematic crimes against Palestinian journalists, the knights of truth.

Earlier, Gaza’s government media office announced the martyrdom of five Palestinians in the Israeli attack on a group of journalists at Nasser Complex.

This is the second such Israeli attack on journalists in less than a month, following an August 10 strike that targeted six journalists, including five from Al Jazeera.

Since the start of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation army, with U.S. support, has deliberately targeted vital sectors and humanitarian workers, including hospitals, medical teams, journalists, and civil defense personnel, despite repeated international and European calls to avoid targeting them.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, resulting in 62,744 Palestinian deaths, 158,259 injuries, mostly women and children, over 9,000 missing persons, hundreds of thousands displaced, and famine killing 300 Palestinians, including 117 children.