Israeli strike on Gaza hospital kills at least six, including doctor and child, Palestinian officials say

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An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza overnight Wednesday killed at least six people, including a doctor and a child, Palestinian officials say.

The strike on Nasser Hospital shortly after midnight hit the complex’s surgery unit, according to a Gaza Civil Defense spokesman. The attack tore through part of the hospital in the dark of night, Ezz Eddine Abu Sabha said, leaving charred debris scattered across the destroyed unit.

The strike killed 52-year-old Dr. Rizk Abu Shaira, Abu Sabha said, as well as a 13-year-old boy who was supposed to have surgery. A total of 40 people were injured in the Israeli strike, including two doctors who are in critical condition.

“They say there is a ceasefire. Where is there a ceasefire? Since the ceasefire, there are more massacres,” said Maryam Abu Hatab, whose brother was killed in the strike. “There are massacres every day in markets, in universities, in the streets. The donkey carts stood by us more than the world’s countries.”

Footage from inside the hospital showed two bombs, one of which failed to explode. A label on the bomb identified it as a US-manufactured GBU-39/B, a 250-pound bomb that has been supplied to Israel.

“I was asleep when suddenly I was covered with dust and glass,” said Atiya Abu Basir, an elderly patient at the hospital. “I couldn’t walk because I just had surgery.”

Despite a nominal US-brokered ceasefire signed more than a year ago, Israel has carried out near-daily strikes in Gaza. According to the United Nations, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza since the ceasefire, and there is no fully functioning hospital in the devastated enclave.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they targeted the commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade, Muhammad Abu Ismail, as well as “additional terrorists who were hiding inside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.” The IDF said he planned and advanced attacks on Israeli forces and civilians.

CNN reached out to the IDF to ask if Abu Ismail had been killed in the strike and what measures were taken to reduce the risk to civilians.

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What we found (1)

CNN names Israel as the actor in its headline and opening line, names the killed surgeon and describes the 13-year-old boy, and sets the strike inside a ceasefire under which Israeli forces have kept killing. Its one weakness is the ending. CNN closes on the IOF's claim that 'terrorists' were hiding inside Nasser Hospital and never tells the reader that the claim came with no evidence and is denied.

Gives a contested claim the last word
Minor
“additional terrorists who were hiding inside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.”
Why this matters
CNN ends its report on the IOF's quoted claim that 'additional terrorists' were 'hiding inside the Nasser Hospital'. The only follow-up is a question about whether the commander was killed and what was done to protect civilians. Nothing is set against the claim that fighters were inside the hospital.
The impression it gives
A reader is left with the army's account of who was in the surgery unit as the final word, and may take it that the hospital was sheltering fighters.
The context
The claim is quoted and attributed, but other outlets reported the same day that the Israeli military gave no evidence for it and that Hamas denies operating inside medical facilities. CNN's own report names a surgeon and a boy waiting for surgery among the dead.
How we know
- The Irish Times reported“saying in a statement that it had struck a Hamas commander and other fighters there, without providing evidence”Israeli air strike on Nasser hospital in Gaza kills six (opens in a new tab)
- NBC News reported“The Israeli military has repeatedly accused Hamas of operating within medical facilities, a charge the militant group has denied.”Israeli strike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital kills at least six people, officials say (opens in a new tab)
- Elsewhere in the article“as well as a 13-year-old boy who was supposed to have surgery”
Show it in the article

What it gets right

“An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza overnight Wednesday killed at least six people, including a doctor and a child”
CNN names the actor and the act in its opening line and puts the dead, including a doctor and a child, ahead of Israel's stated target.
“Rizk Abu Shaira, Abu Sabha said, as well as a 13-year-old boy who was supposed to have surgery.”
CNN gives the killed surgeon's name and age and describes the boy, so the dead appear as people and not only as a number.
“Israeli forces have killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza since the ceasefire, and there is no fully functioning hospital in the devastated enclave”
CNN states in active voice who has been killing since the ceasefire and gives the state of Gaza's hospitals. This frames the strike as part of continuing attacks during a nominal ceasefire.

Israeli strike on Gaza hospital kills at least six, including doctor and child, Palestinian officials say

Gives a contested claim the last word

What it gets right

How other outlets reported it

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