Tunde Sulaiman 
An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza killed five journalists yesterday, including a freelancer who worked for The Associated Press, according to health officials. Mariam Dagga, 33, a visual journalist, freelanced for the AP since the Gaza war began, as well as other news outlets.
The AP said in a statement that it was shocked and saddened to learn of Dagga’s death, along with several other journalists. In all, 20 people were killed in the strike on Nasser Hospital, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Health Ministry’s records department.
Dagga, who has a 12-yearold son who was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war, frequently based herself at Nasser, most recently reporting on the hospital’s doctors struggling to save children from starvation.
Al Jazeera confirmed that its journalist Mohammed Salam was also among those who were killed in the Nasser strike. Reuters reported that its contractor cameraman Hussam al-Masri was killed and its contractor photographer Hatem Khaled wounded. The Israeli prime minister’s office and Israeli military declined to comment on the strike.
The Israel-Hamas war has been one of the bloodiest conflicts for media workers, with at least 192 journalists killed in Gaza in the 22-month conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Comparatively, 18 journalists have been killed so far in Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to the CPJ.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff has said there is a “deal on the table” for the remaining hostages in Gaza, according to Israeli media.
Lt Gen Eyal Zamir reportedly said the Israeli military had brought about the conditions for a deal, and it is now in Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s hands,” Channel 13 News reports.
