A senior British diplomat has described last week’s deadly assault on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis as a “calculated action against clearly identifiable civilian roles,” resulting in the loss of at least 22 lives, including five journalists and multiple medical staff. The remarks were delivered during a session of the UN Security Council on 27 August, following a detailed field investigation which challenges the official narrative surrounding the incident.

Eyewitness and video evidence suggests a deeply troubling sequence of events. A Reuters journalist was broadcasting live from the hospital’s upper balcony when his feed was abruptly lost following a distant explosion. Minutes later, the precise location from which he was filming was struck. As rescue teams, including fellow journalists and medics, rushed to aid the wounded, a second strike hit the exact same spot eight minutes later, significantly increasing the casualty count. Analysis of munitions points to the use of precision-guided weaponry, consistent with missiles typically deployed from military aircraft or armoured vehicles.

The justification provided for the attack has been robustly contested by multiple sources on the ground. While claims were made that the strike aimed to neutralise a militant observation post, it has been independently verified that the camera in question belonged to the international news agency Reuters and had been operational for weeks. The director of the hospital confirmed that no military personnel were present in the immediate area at the time.

This incident forms part of a deeply concerning pattern, with monitors documenting numerous instances of consecutive strikes on the same location, a tactic that raises grave allegations regarding the intentional targeting of first responders. International humanitarian law unequivocally grants protected status to medical facilities, and any perceived breach of this protection demands both justification and prior warning, neither of which appear to have been present.

The Foreign Press Association has condemned the attack as among the deadliest on journalists in the conflict. According to reports from the Safa News Agency, the number of media workers and aid personnel killed since the onset of hostilities has reached deeply alarming levels, prompting calls from international legal experts for an immediate and independent investigation.