Israel may not be targeting journalists but it is certainly killing a lot of them
It is an innocuous term for a horrible tactic. A “double tap” sounds so innocent and unthreatening. In fact, it is a term saved for a particularly brutal kind of attack.
And so it seems was the fate of those who died in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza. First one strike hit the building, ripping away a chunk of the wall and injuring the people inside.
Fifteen minutes later, as rescuers and journalists rushed in, and as the scene was being broadcast live, a second explosion ripped through the courtyard, killing those who had come to help.
Nasser hospital in Gaza was damaged by an Israeli strike. Pic: AP
Latest updates: Israel strikes Nasser hospital
So the first tap causes harm and brings people to the scene; the second inflicts yet more devastation upon the people who came to help.
It’s a tactic that’s been used by a variety of countries over the years, most recently by Russia in Ukraine and, enthusiastically, by Bashar al Assad while he was president of Syria.
This time, it left more than 20 people dead, among them medics, patients, and five journalists. The scenes of carnage were horrendous – we saw images of death and destruction. One man, a journalist who survived the explosions, was filmed sitting in the hospital, his head and body soaked in blood, utterly dazed.
Nasser is the last fully functioning hospital in southern Gaza. To see it struck again was, in the words of British surgeon Professor Nick Maynard, “barbarism in the extreme”.
He told Sky News: “This hospital has been bombed several times over the last 22 months. It is murder. These are war crimes killing innocent civilians. As barbaric as anything I have seen in Gaza.”
Relatives and friends pray over the body of journalist Mariam Dagga. Pic: AP
Among the dead was photographer Mariam Daqqa. Hours before her death, her name appeared on the front page of a leading Israeli newspaper, a credit for a haunting photo she had taken of an emaciated child.
Her press vest, recovered from the rubble, was later laid across her coffin while her camera, still marked by her own blood, was held aloft.
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Who were the journalists killed by Israel?
Amanda Nasser, an American emergency nurse who had been working inside the hospital, survived by chance. “We were told to leave for [a] training session,” she said. “Thirty minutes later, the hospital was hit twice. Mariam was a dear friend. Getting that news broke me down.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the attack as “a tragic mishap” and an investigation has been opened. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) insists it does not deliberately target civilians; Mr Netanyahu says that Israel values the work of “journalists, health workers and all citizens”.
But it’s also a fact that Nasser hospital is a popular place for media workers to gather, to use the internet and to chase and trade stories. And if we know that, so does the Israeli military.
It would be naive to think that the chance of killing journalists, as well as, obviously, health workers, was not obvious to those who launched this attack. “We do not intentionally target civilians,” says the IDF’s spokesperson Effie Defrin. “We regret any harm to uninvolved individuals.”
And yet, somehow, it happened. Not just one explosion, but two.
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There are at least five different groups who try to keep track of how many journalists have been killed in Gaza. They all come up with different figures, but they agree that the total is above 200, and may even be more than 300.
And remember – foreign journalists are barred from entering Gaza, so the ability of the world to scrutinise what is actually happening on the ground in Gaza is largely dependent upon the work of these people, hundreds of whom are now dead.
Israel may not be targeting them, but it is certainly killing a lot of journalists along the way.
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This is a crucial moment in this conflict. Parts of Gaza have been designated as suffering from famine, just as Israel’s military might is readied for a huge operation to encircle and overwhelm Gaza City.
A ceasefire proposal is on the table, but Netanyahu seems reluctant to negotiate. On Tuesday, once again, Israel will face protests and strikes from those, including the families of hostages, demanding that their prime minister stop the war.
It is a volatile time, and Israel is a volatile country.
World
Bodies of two more Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas – but uncertainty over missing remains
The bodies of two more Israeli hostages have been handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas – but uncertainty still hangs over the fate of the missing remains of others.
Under the ceasefire agreement, all remaining 48 hostages, dead and alive, were supposed to be returned by this Monday.
So far, only the 20 living hostages have been returned, as well as seven dead hostages, according to Israel’s count, with two further bodies still being verified.
Just hours after today’s handover, the Israeli military said a tenth body previously turned over was not that of a hostage – and the confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.
What has Hamas said?
Hamas has previously said recovering the remaining bodies could take time, as not all burial sites are known.
Its armed wing put out a statement on Wednesday, saying it has returned all the bodies it could reasonably recover, but would require special equipment to hand over the remaining ones.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Red Cross vehicles escort a truck transporting the bodies of Palestinian hostages. Pic: Reuters.
That brings to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains claimed they showed signs of mistreatment.
Trump issues warning
The return of all the hostages is a key pillar of the deal agreed to by Israel and Hamas, heralded by US President Donald Trump as having brought “peace in the Middle East”.
Israel – which has freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the peace deal – had already threatened to keep the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed on Wednesday, and limit aid entering Gaza, due to Hamas not returning all of the dead.
And in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Mr Trump warned that Israel could resume the war if he feels Hamas is not upholding its end of the agreement.
“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,” he said.
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Since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023 – in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage – the two sides have been at war.
Nearly 68,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s subsequent offensive, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza.
The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts – though the ministry does not say how many of those killed are combatants.
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Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons explains why tensions may begin to bubble
Similar incident in previous ceasefire
This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to Israel.
During a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, but testing in February 2025 showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Ms Bibas’ body was returned a day later.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem accused Israel of violating the deal with shootings on Tuesday in eastern Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah.
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Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military is operating along the deployment lines troops withdrew to under the deal, and he warned that anyone approaching the lines will be targeted, as happened on Tuesday with several militants.
Aid trickling in
The World Food Programme said its trucks began arriving in Gaza after the entrance of humanitarian aid was paused for two days due to the exchange on Monday and a Jewish holiday on Tuesday.
The timing of the scaled-up deliveries – which are also part of the ceasefire deal – had been called into question after Israel said on Tuesday that it would cut the number of trucks allowed into Gaza, saying Hamas was too slow to return the hostages’ bodies.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel enter Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: AP
Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, lauded the trucks’ passage but said the situation remained unpredictable.
“We’re hopeful that access will improve in the coming days,” she said.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medical supplies were bound for Gaza on Wednesday.
Fifteen UK charities have launched a fresh appeal for donations to Gaza to address “catastrophic levels of need” in the devastated region.
The charities make up the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which has been raising millions for Gaza – where tens of thousands have been killed over the past two years of war – and the wider Middle East.
After the initial stage of a much-sought ceasefire deal aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza was agreed on by Israel and Hamas, aid has begun to trickle into the devastated region again.
According to the DEC, its charities and local partners have been scaling up their work in the Gaza Strip since the agreement took effect last week.
Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It said lorries carrying food and other aid began to enter Gaza on Sunday, with the British Red Cross and Plan International UK among those confirming supplies had made it in.
After raising more than £50m since the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal was launched last October, the DEC is renewing calls for donations, saying £10 could provide blankets for two people, while £50 could provide emergency food for five families for one week.
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As goods are returning to Gaza’s markets, the DEC said, they are increasing cash assistance to help people buy essentials as they become more affordable.
They’re also distributing clean water, medicine, food, and nutrition support.
On its website, the DEC pointed to how famine was declared in Gaza City in August as it appealed for funds saying: “Your support can save lives.”
You can donate to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal at dec.org.uk.
Donald Trump has refused to say if the CIA has the authority to assassinate Venezuela’s president, after approving covert operations in the country to tackle alleged drug trafficking.
The classified decision, first revealed by The New York Times, marks a significant escalation in efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro‘s regime.
Mr Trump said large amounts of drugs were entering the US from Venezuela, much of it trafficked by sea.
“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.
When asked why the coastguard wasn’t asked to intercept suspected drug trafficking boats, which has been a longstanding US practice, Mr Trump said the approach had been ineffective.
“I think Venezuela is feeling heat,” he said.
He declined to answer whether the CIA has the authority to execute Mr Maduro.
The US has offered a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his arrest, accusing him of connections to drug trafficking and criminal organisations – claims he denies.
President Nicolas Maduro. Pic: Reuters
Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening. Pic: Reuters
US targets ‘drug boats’
Mr Trump also alleged Venezuela had sent a significant number of prisoners, including individuals from mental health facilities, into the US, though he did not specify the border through which they reportedly entered.
On Tuesday, he announced America had targeted a small boat suspected of drug trafficking in waters off the Venezuelan coast, resulting in the deaths of six people.
According to the president’s post on social media, all those killed were aboard the vessel.
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Footage of the strike was released by Donald Trump on social media. Pic: Truth Social
The incident marked the fifth such fatal strike in the Caribbean, as the Trump administration continues to classify suspected drug traffickers as unlawful combatants to be confronted with military force.
War secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strike, according to Mr Trump, who released a video of the operation.
The black-and-white footage showed a small boat seemingly stationary on the water. It is struck by a projectile from above and explodes, then drifts while burning for several seconds.
Mr Trump said the “lethal kinetic strike” was in international waters and targeted a boat travelling along a well-known smuggling route.
There has also been a significant increase in US military presence in the southern Caribbean, with at least eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 jets stationed in Puerto Rico.
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