TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Gaza’s Nasser Hospital became a death trap for rescue workers, journalists and others last week when it was targeted by Israeli forces in an attack that has galvanized global anger. Associated Press reporting raises serious questions about Israel’s rationale for the attack and the way it was carried out.
Israel has promised to investigate “gaps” in its understanding of the attack, which killed 22 people in a succession of tank strikes, including five journalists — among them Mariam Dagga, who worked for AP and other news organizations.
The AP’s analysis is based on information from current and former Israeli military officials, other officials and weapons analysts, and accounts from nearly 20 people who were in or near the hospital at the time of the strikes.
Here are some takeaways:
The military struck a hospital well known as a journalists’ gathering point. It believed a video camera positioned there was being used by Hamas to observe Israeli forces nearby because it had a towel draped over it, along with other unspecified intelligence, according to a military official.
AP evidence indicates the camera in question actually belonged to a Reuters video journalist who routinely covered his equipment with a white cloth to protect it from the scorching sun and dust. The journalist, Hussam al-Masri, was killed in the initial strike.
A photograph taken by Dagga in mid-August shows al-Masri on the same stairwell that was struck — next to his camera, with a white cloth draped over it. Five journalists told the AP that he often used the cloth. In the weeks before the strikes, al-Masri had broadcast live almost daily from the stairwell, according to other journalists who worked there and hospital officials.
Witnesses said a drone frequently observed the position, including about 40 minutes before the attack.
The Israeli army refused to comment when asked if it hit the wrong person and has presented no evidence for its claims. Israel has said none of the journalists killed were intended targets and none were linked to Hamas.
Troops hit the same stairwell minutes after medical and emergency workers and journalists gathered there to help casualties from the first strike. That has raised accusations of a “double tap” — a type of attack intended to kill those responding to casualties, which rights groups say is a potential war crime.
Videos analysis by AP revealed that there were at least four explosions, two during the first strike and two during the second, each time without warning.
The Israeli military has given no explanation for why it carried out a second round of strikes.
Double-tap strikes, which hit crowds that move into areas to rescue victims from initial strikes, have notoriously been used by al-Qaida and other extremist groups, as well as Russia’s military and forces loyal to former Syrian President Bashar Assad.
AP analyzed videos of the attack and found that Israel fired high-explosive tank shells in the strikes — which the Israeli military confirmed following their initial inquiry.
Israel Ziv, a retired general who once led the Israeli army’s operations directorate, said less deadly and more precise options than tank fire were available.
An official with knowledge of the attack said the tank wasn’t supposed to have been used, but was unable to say what the original plans were. The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
The same brigade that carried out these strikes, the Golani Brigade, was involved in the March shooting of an ambulance convoy in southern Gaza that killed 15 Palestinian medics. An initial investigation of that attack by Israeli forces found a chain of “professional failures” and a deputy commander was fired.
Israel gave the names of six men who it said were militants killed in the attack.
It provided no evidence, and one man on its list, Omar Kamel Shahada Abu Teim, does not appear on the hospital’s list of casualties obtained by the AP. Doctors and morgue workers said no one by that name was killed, and unlike with the other five, Israel did not provide a picture.
Another person named, Jumaa al-Najjar, was a health care worker employed by Nasser Hospital, according to the morgue list. Another, Imad al-Shaer, was a driver for Gaza’s Civil Defense first responders.
The other three names appear on the casualty list, but no other details about them were immediately available.
The Health Ministry and the Civil Defense are part of the Hamas-run government. Israel has in the past claimed that some emergency responders were militants.
Based on analysis of the footage at the time of the attack, and speaking to multiple eyewitnesses, there is no evidence that anyone killed in the strikes was armed.
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press reporters Melanie Lidman and Angela Charlton in Jerusalem, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, contributed.
This photo taken on Aug. 13, 2025, shows Reuters videographer Hussam Al-Masri, in a white shirt, standing next to his video camera covered with a towel on the outside stairs of Nasser Hospital. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Sam Darnold threw four interceptions and still had the Seattle Seahawks in position to win on the last play of the game in a 21-19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
Linebacker Ernest Jones IV said anyone who tries to put the blame solely on the quarterback is sorely mistaken, including Darnold himself.
“Sam’s been balling, right? If we want to try to define Sam by this game, Sam’s had us in every (expletive) game. So for him to sit there and say, ‘Oh, that’s my fault.’ No, it’s not,” Jones said.
“Defensively, we could have made plays. There were opportunities where we could have got better stops. Yeah, I mean, like, it’s football, man. And he’s our quarterback, we got his back. And, got anything to say, quite frankly, (expletive) ’em.”
Darnold drove Seattle off its own 1 in the final 1:41 to give Jason Myers a 61-yard field goal try as time expired that would won the game. When Myers’ kick came up short, it taught the upstart Seahawks (7-3) how slim the margin for success is at the top of the NFL.
“I think we’re a good team,” Jones said. “We turned the ball over four times, and we lost by two points.”
“We’re that close, and by our standards, offensively, played a very poor game,” wide receiver Cooper Kupp said.
There was plenty the offense could have done better, starting with Darnold having four interceptions in a game for the first time since he memorably said he was “seeing ghosts” in a 33-0 loss to the New England Patriots on Oct. 21, 2019.
In this instance, many of those mistakes came down to what Darnold admitted was an unwillingness to throw the ball away or take sacks. Arguably, the worst instance of that stubbornness came on Darnold’s fourth pick, which happened in Rams’ territory early in the fourth quarter.
Running out of time on third down while under duress from defensive tackles Poona Ford and Kobie Turner, Darnold threw an awkward jump pass straight to cornerback Darious Williams.
“I was just trying to get the ball out of my hands,” Darnold said. “Just a poor decision. There’s a lineman in the way. Didn’t see the DB, trying to make a jump pass, and just didn’t work out. I gotta just dirt that one.”
Equally consequential was the Seahawks’ inability to score touchdowns in the red zone. They had one touchdown in four trips inside the 20, finally capitalizing on Kenneth Walker III’s 1-yard run with 2:23 remaining.
Seattle outgained the Rams 414-249, but Los Angeles successfully reached the end zone in each of its three goal-to-go opportunities.
“We had some good 10-plus play drives out there,” Darnold said. “We just couldn’t finish in the red zone. We got to be better in the red zone. It starts with me, getting the guys out there and executing at a high level. And then, yeah, just can’t turn the ball over. I think that’s the biggest thing. Biggest takeaway from today is just protecting the football.”
In spite of those struggles, Darnold and the offense continued to fight. He ended up 29 of 44 for 279 yards, giving Myers a shot to put the Seahawks atop the NFC West.
To Kupp, that reflects the continued growth and development of Darnold as a player and leader after his well documented struggles as the third overall pick in 2018.
“I mean, that’s not an easy thing to do,” Kupp said. “You just continue to battle, continue to be the same guy. Like I said before, he’s steady. Steady. And you can see just the trials he’s been through, the things he’s gone through, they’re not for no reason. There’s a purpose. He’s learned lessons, and knows that there’s waves, gonna be plays that you want back. But all you can do is keep coming back, keep firing.”
For Darnold, who is challenging at the top of the NFC for the second straight season after his unexpected career revival with the Minnesota Vikings last year, he understands that the quality of the defense backing him up means the Seahawks can contend for a Super Bowl.
But that is only if the offense does its part, which starts and ends with avoiding turnovers.
“I feel like our defense has been doing a great job all year,” Darnold said. “I got to not turn the ball over, simple as that. I got to do my job, protect the football, get the guys down the field, put the ball in the end zone, and I feel like we’ll always be in a position to win a football game if I just do that.”
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold speaks during a news conference after the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Seahawks in an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, let, passes while under pressure from Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, left, is hit by Los Angeles Rams linebacker Jared Verse for an incomplete pass during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, right, passes while under pressure from Los Angeles Rams linebacker Jared Verse during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Katie Chin)
