Israel's "Double-Tap" Trap
"Severely injured" (? Really AP? looks dead to me!) person hanging from overhang, Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025.
AP freelancer Mariam Dagga, bottom left, covering the aftermath of the first "tap", Nasser Hospital August 25.
Hoo doggie, bet there wasn't much left of Mariam Dagga after that! Second "tap". Magga was killed.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Associated Press reporting into an Israeli attack on a Gaza Strip hospital that killed 22 people, including five journalists, raises serious questions about Israel’s rationale for the strikes and the way they were carried out. Among those killed was Mariam Dagga, who worked for AP and other news organizations.
Israeli forces struck a position well known as a journalists’ gathering point, because — a military official said — they believed a camera on the roof was being used by Hamas to observe troops. The official cited “suspicious behavior” and unspecified intelligence, but the only detail given was that there was a towel on the camera and the person with it — which the army interpreted as an effort to avoid identification.
AP has gathered new evidence indicating 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.
The evidence calls into question why Israeli forces went through with the strike. Witnesses say Israel frequently observed the position by drone, including about 40 minutes before the attack, giving an opportunity to correctly identify al-Masri.
AP’s findings also reveal other troubling decisions from the Aug. 25 attack:
— Soon after the first strike, Israeli forces hit the same position again, after medical and emergency workers had reached the scene to treat the injured, and as journalists including Dagga had rushed to cover the news. The strike has raised accusations of a “double tap” — a type of attack intended to kill those responding to casualties and which experts in international law say is a possible war crime.
— Troops used high-explosive tank shells to strike a hospital, instead of more precise guided weapons that might have resulted in fewer casualties.
— In all, Israel struck the hospital four times, the AP found, each time without warning.
The Israeli military refused to comment when asked if it hit the wrong person and has presented no evidence for their claims. ...
Israeli fire has killed 189 Palestinian reporters in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza since the war erupted in October 2023, giving Palestinian journalists a critical role in covering the conflict.
[Get it? "No mas foreign journalists! Out! Out! Out! Only native-grown Palestinian journalists!" So we can kill them.]
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.
The attack has galvanized global anger as Israeli forces push ahead with a major offensive in famine-stricken Gaza City, exposing its population to even greater danger from Israeli bombardment and military operations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “tragic mishap″ but stopped short of apologizing.
...
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. First responders and other civilians are often harmed in such attacks.
Experts in international law say multiple aspects of this attack could point to potential war crimes, including targeting a hospital without warning, and the double-tap strategy that puts civilians in danger.
Israel Ziv, a retired general who once led the Israeli army’s operations directorate, said a double-tap strike would violate the army’s rules of engagement.
...
Tank fire was not supposed to have been used
AP analyzed videos of the attack and found that Israel fired tank shells in the strikes — which the Israeli military confirmed following their initial inquiry.
Ziv said less deadly and more precise options than tank fire were available.
AP analyzed videos of the attack and found that Israel fired tank shells in the strikes — which the Israeli military confirmed following their initial inquiry.
Ziv said less deadly and more precise options than tank fire were available.
“There is no good explanation for that,” he said.
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.
...
A joint letter from the AP and Reuters expressed outrage at the strikes and demanded answers.
“Unfortunately, we have found the (Israeli military’s) willingness and ability to investigate itself in past incidents to rarely result in clarity and action, raising serious questions including whether Israel is deliberately targeting live feeds in order to suppress information,” they said.
Can't wait.
Trump is so weak that Xi Jinping doesn’t even feel the need to manipulate him anymore. Meanwhile the rest of the world is moving on from America too.
