Trump Condemns Israeli Strike That Hit Gaza Hospital, Killing Journalists and Medics

President Donald Trump said he is “not happy” about Israeli strikes on a hospital in Gaza that killed at least 20 people on Monday, including five journalists and medical workers.

The hospital was hit by two strikes minutes apart, with the second blast killing medics and rescue workers who had rushed to help people injured in the first. Journalists who were covering the attack on the hospital were killed as they worked.

“I’m not happy about it. I don't want to see it. At the same time, we have to end that whole nightmare. I'm the one that got the hostages out,” Trump said in the Oval Office when asked by a reporter about the strike.

Video of the incident taken from a live shot on Egyptian television, and verified by Reuters, shows the strike hitting rescue workers as they search through the rubble of an upper floor at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Read More: Israelis Call for Urgent Cease-Fire and Return of Hostages in Nationwide ‘Day of Struggle’ Protests

The journalists killed included Mariam Abu Dagga, a freelance journalist who worked for the Associated Press; Mohammed Salama, who worked for Al Jazeera; Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist who worked with several news organisations, including Reuters; and Ahmed Abu Aziz, a contributor to Middle East Eye.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the airstrike a “tragic mishap,” and claimed that Israel “values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians.”

The Israeli army said in a statement on Tuesday that an “initial inquiry” found the strikes were aimed at a “camera that was positioned by Hamas in the area of the Nasser Hospital that was being used to observe the activity of IDF troops, in order to direct terrorist activities against them.”

The Israeli military did not provide any evidence to support its claim, and acknowledged “gaps” in the investigation, including the type of ammunition used.

At least 192 journalists have been killed in Gaza in the 22-month conflict, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)—189 of them Palestinians. The war has been even more deadly for health workers: more than 1,500 have been killed by Israel's strikes in Gaza, according to the United Nations.

It comes two weeks after Israel killed four Al Jazeera journalists in a targeted strike in Gaza City.

French President Emmanuel Macron joined international condemnation of the strike.

“This is intolerable: civilians and journalists must be protected in all circumstances. The media must be able to carry out their mission freely and independently to cover the reality of the conflict,” he said.

The AP and Reuters called for an explanation in a rare joint letter to Israeli authorities.

“We are outraged that independent journalists were among the victims of this strike on the hospital, a location that is protected under international law,” it said. “These journalists were present in their professional capacity, doing critical work bearing witness.”

Sara Qudah, CPJ's regional director, condemned the strikes, saying that Israel's “killing of journalists in Gaza continues while the world watches and fails to act firmly on the most horrific attacks the press has ever faced in recent history.”

“These murders must end now. The perpetrators must no longer be allowed to act with impunity,” she added.

The strike came as Israel pushed on in its offensive towards famine-stricken Gaza City. At least 18 people were killed in shelling and bombing of the city overnight and on Tuesday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) concluded last week that famine is taking place in the city. It marks the first time that famine has been confirmed since the start of the war.

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher described it as “a famine that we could have prevented, if we had been allowed. Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel.”

Israel has strongly rejected the IPC report, with Netanyahu's office calling it an “outright lie.”

Read More: Israeli Strike Kills Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, Who Left a Final Message from Gaza

More than 220 people have died of malnutrition due to Israel's blocking of most food and aid from entering the strip. The toll includes 117 children since the start of the war.

The war was triggered after the Hamas terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. The IDF's own data suggests a Palestinian civilian death rate of 83%.

In the absence of independent monitoring on the ground, Gaza’s Health Ministry is the primary source for casualty data relied upon by humanitarian groups, journalists, and international bodies. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified by TIME.