Israel has faced global condemnation for back-to-back strikes on the biggest hospital in southern Gaza this week. Initial reports from Gaza said that Israel had struck the hospital twice. But a new video obtained by CNN reveals that there is a third strike. The attack killed at least 22 people, including health workers, emergency response crews and five journalists.
KHAN YOUNIS AUGUST 29: Israel has faced global condemnation for back-to-back strikes on the biggest hospital in southern Gaza this week, which killed at least 22 people, including health workers, emergency response crews and five journalists. New video obtained by CNN reveals that there is a third strike. CNN’s Paula Hancocks reports.
Initial reports from Gaza said that Israel had struck the hospital twice, with the first blast followed nine minutes later by another which hit first responders and journalists who arrived at the scene.
In the first incident, an Israeli strike hit the exterior staircase on the hospital’s eastern side at 10:08 local time (07:08 GMT), killing journalist Hussam Al-Masri who was operating a live TV feed for Reuters.
Nine minutes later, as a group of rescue workers and other journalists attended to the victims, they were hit as the Israeli military fired again on the hospital – a tactic known as a “double tap.”
A double tap is a shooting technique where two shots are fired in rapid succession at the same target with the same sight picture (as opposed to the controlled pair, whereby a second sighting is acquired for the second shot). Instruction and practice of the double-tap improves accuracy as shooters often do not have the gun fully extended on the first shot meaning the second shot of a double tap is usually more accurate.
New video obtained by CNN reveals that this second “tap” was in fact two near-simultaneous strikes. These second and third strikes appear to have caused most of the deaths.
