One strike, two narratives: How Israeli media spin-doctored Nasser Hospital attack

By Maryam Qarehgozlou

Israeli military on Monday carried out twin strikes on Nasser Hospital, southern Gaza’s main medical facility, killing at least 21 people, including medics, patients and five journalists.

Rights groups described the bombing as a “double-tap” strike — an initial attack followed by a second one targeting rescuers, medics, and journalists rushing to the scene to help the victims.

Among the slain journalists were Al Jazeera photojournalist Mohammad Salama and Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri.

Mariam Abu Daqqa, who worked with prominent media outlets, including The Independent Arabic and the Associated Press, and reporter Moaz Abu Taha were also killed.

A fifth journalist, Ahmed Abu Aziz of Quds Feed Network, later succumbed to his wounds, according to Gaza’s Media Office.

The ongoing genocide in Gaza has already been the deadliest war for journalists in modern history, with the Israeli regime deliberately targeting reporters to silence coverage of its atrocities and prevent the world from seeing the scale of the destruction.

That same genocidal policy has driven Israel’s systematic assault on Gaza’s health system, eliminating those who document the war and those who struggle to keep its victims alive.

Most medical facilities in Gaza have already been knocked out by Israel’s systematic strikes on hospitals across the war-ravaged territory.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis has faced repeated aerial raids and bombardment during 22 months of genocidal war on Gaza, struggling under critical shortages of staff and supplies.

A previous attack on the hospital in June killed three people and wounded ten others.

At the time, the Israeli military claimed, without evidence, that Hamas fighters were operating a command center inside the facility, a tired Israeli script: hospitals, mosques, schools, all framed as legitimate targets.

But what stood out after Monday’s massacre was not only the scale of the bloodshed but the way Israeli media chose to narrate it.

In English, reports softened the strike as a “tragic mistake” for international consumption. In Hebrew media, the same attack was trumpeted as a victory: a “terrorist hub” destroyed, the killings openly boasted of.

The split-screen coverage underscores a deliberate strategy — war crimes denied abroad, glorified at home.

Thomas Keith, a writer behind Sovereign Protocol and the X account @iwasnevrhere_, has drawn attention to this dual narrative, noting how Israeli media frames the same strike differently for foreign and domestic audiences.

Caption: In English, The Jerusalem Post (R) spun the double strike on Nasser Hospital as a “mistake.”In Hebrew, the same strike is celebrated. Outlets openly brag about hitting the hospital twice, describing it as a “terrorist headquarters” and boasting about “eliminating” people inside, including those they admit were “disguised as journalists.”

“Israeli propaganda runs on two channels, one for foreign consumption, another for domestic bloodlust,” Keith wrote in a post on X on Monday.

“This is the operational doctrine of the occupation: in one language, deny and apologize; in the other, boast and incite. It’s not confusion, it’s the deliberate duality of a regime that knows its crimes won’t survive a single, consistent telling,” he added.

A look at other English-language Israeli outlets makes the dual narrative plain to see.

The Times of Israel, for example, reported Monday on the strike, noting that the Israeli military has ordered a probe, claiming it “regrets any harm” to civilians and “in no way” targets journalists.

Ynet similarly reported that the Israeli military admitted its forces struck Nasser Hospital without proper authorization, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attack a “tragic mishap” and pledged a review.

Yet the tone shifts drastically in Hebrew broadcasts.

On i24 News, senior commentator Zvi Yehezkeli openly called for the mass killing of journalists in Gaza, claiming that their reporting serves Hamas and undermines Israeli hasbara — the Zionist regime’s propaganda efforts aimed at shaping global perceptions of its genocidal actions.

“If Israel’s gonna take out journalists, better late than never. These reporters hide in hospitals, run war rooms, and broadcast Hamas propaganda,” he said.

“You could say Hamas’ military arm’s elite are these “noble” journalists. Israel did right in eliminating them, though too late. Many more still harm our image in this PR war we’re losing.”

This divergence in messaging — expressions of regret in English-language outlets abroad, paired with open incitement in Hebrew broadcasts at home — is not accidental.

It reflects Israel’s broader strategy of legitimizing its genocidal actions internationally and sanitizing its image by justifying crimes in Gaza.

An investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call earlier this month revealed the existence of a special Israeli military unit known as the “Legitimization Cell,” which institutionalizes this approach.

The unit, established in the wake of October 7, 2023, Hamas-led Operation Al-Aqsa Storm and the ensuing genocidal onslaught on Gaza, was created to craft narratives that justify the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure — with a particular focus on journalists.

Its mission is to shield Israel’s international “legitimacy,” despite its war crimes and genocidal actions, and bolster the Zionist regime’s broader Hasbara efforts, according to the investigation.

One of its central tasks has been to single out Gaza-based reporters and recast them as undercover Hamas fighters, a strategy aimed at blunting global outrage over Israel’s deliberate killings of journalists and preserving its standing.

Driven by anger that Gaza-based reporters were “smearing [Israel’s] name in front of the world,” the cell’s members were eager to find a journalist they could link to Hamas and mark as a target, one unnamed source told +972 Magazine and Local Call.

“If the global media is talking about Israel killing innocent journalists, then immediately there’s a push to find one journalist who might not be so innocent — as if that somehow makes killing the other 20 acceptable,” another source was quoted as saying in the investigation.

This strategy has played out repeatedly. Earlier this month, Israel assassinated prominent Gaza journalist Anas al-Sharif, along with five other reporters.

Israel falsely claimed that al-Sharif had been a Hamas member since 2013, though the documents provided by the army — never independently verified — indicate that he was injured in 2017— meaning that, even if the documents were accurate, they suggest he was no longer active.

Many observers believe that killing Al-Sharif — who regularly reported from Gaza City — was part of Israel’s plan to enforce a media blackout ahead of its military preparations to occupy the city.

In another similar case last year, following the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, Israeli officials claimed that he was given a Hamas military ranking in 2007, when al-Ghoul was only 10 years old.

According to the +972 and Local Call, Israeli officials have since confirmed the creation of multiple such “research teams” within military intelligence over the past two years, all focused on discrediting journalists and undermining independent reporting on Gaza.

Their mission, officials admitted, was to expose alleged “Hamas lies” — or, more accurately, to brand journalists as Hamas fighters in order to delegitimize their work.

The unnamed officers interviewed by +972 said the so-called Legitimization Cell’s work was considered vital not only for Israeli propaganda but also for securing continued US support and prolonging the war.

They regularly passed material — such as claims of weapons hidden in schools — to American counterparts to demonstrate that Israel’s operations were “legitimate.”

“The idea,” one officer explained, “was to [allow the military to] operate without pressure, so countries like America wouldn’t stop supplying weapons.”

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