LONDON: Israel struck Gaza’s Nasser Hospital at least four times during Monday’s attack that killed at least 20 people, including five journalists, analysis by BBC Verify has found.
The fact-checking service analyzed new video footage of the Israeli attack, which has drawn global condemnation.
Initial reports in the international press suggested that the facility was struck twice in a “double-tap” attack, with the second strike hitting nine minutes after the first, killing first responders and journalists who had arrived on the scene.
However, the BBC analysis found that the hospital was struck at least four times.
In what was believed to be the first strike, two staircases were hit almost simultaneously by separate munitions.
Journalist Hussam Al-Masri, who was operating a live video feed for Reuters, was killed in the first wave of strikes.
Separately, Israeli forces hit a staircase on the northern wing of the hospital at almost the same time.
The BBC discovered the additional attacks by analyzing dozens of videos recorded by a freelancer as well as eyewitness clips that were posted online.
One video shows an injured person being carried down the damaged northern staircase of the hospital after the first round of strikes.
Its nursing director was also seen holding destroyed, bloodied clothing that he said was worn by a nurse when she was working at the time of the attack.
The compiled footage of the first wave “appears to show interior damage consistent with a relatively small munition, including an entry hole that suggests a munition with a relatively flat trajectory,” said N R Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, an arms and munitions intelligence company.
Israel’s second attack came nine minutes later after dozens of medics and journalists had gathered to inspect the damaged eastern staircase, one of the targets of the first wave.
Frame-by-frame analysis of video recordings show that two separate munitions fired by Israel struck the exposed staircase where the medics and journalists had gathered.
Military experts told the BBC that Israel had used Lahat missiles in the strikes, which can be fired from tanks, helicopters and drones. Israeli outlets reported that nearby tanks fired the projectiles at the hospital.
Amael Kotlarski, an analyst from Janes, the defense intelligence firm, said: “If these Lahats were fired from the ground, then at least two tanks would have been involved, as the interval between the two impacts is far too short. No tank loader could have reloaded that fast.”
Jenzen-Jones said the “impact of two projectiles at nearly the exact same moment suggests two tanks may have fired on the target simultaneously.” However, he added that the type of munition used was likely Israeli M339 tank shells.
The BBC discovered through satellite imagery that Israel Defense Forces units were about 2.5 km northeast of the hospital on the day of the attack — well within firing range. The IDF said it had no comment on BBC Verify’s new findings.
Israel has shifted its narrative about the attack amid mounting international anger over the killing of journalists and medics.
It initially admitted on Monday that the IDF had carried out an attack in the vicinity of the hospital but provided no justification.
Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “deeply regrets the tragic mishap.”
A day later, the IDF claimed that its troops had discovered a Hamas-operated camera near the hospital, without providing evidence. The IDF has yet to acknowledge that it carried out more than one strike on the facility.
Since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 247 journalists in Gaza, according to the UN, making the war the deadliest ever conflict for reporters.
