Israel struck Nasser Hospital at least four times during its deadly attack in southern Gaza on Monday, an analysis of new video footage by BBC Verify has found.
The attack, which has attracted international condemnation and widespread anger, reportedly killed at least 20 people, including five journalists.
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.
But new analysis suggests the hospital was struck four times in total. BBC Verify and expert analysis found that two staircases were hit almost simultaneously in the first wave, and while what was thought to be a single later attack was in fact two separate strikes hitting the same place within a fraction of a second.
Israel does not allow international journalists to enter Gaza independently. BBC Verify identified the additional strikes by analysing dozens of videos provided by a freelancer on the ground and material filmed by eyewitnesses that circulated online.
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.
BBC Verify has now identified another previously unreported blast at a northern wing staircase at practically the same time, which was overshadowed by the 'double-tap' strike on the eastern staircase.
New footage shows smoke rising and damage at both staircases, while emergency workers said the hospital's operating department was hit.
Other videos show an injured person being carried down the northern staircase and the hospital's nursing director holding shredded and bloodied clothing which he said was being worn by a nurse while she was working in the operating department when it was hit.
N R Jenzen-Jones - the director of Armament Research Services, an arms and munitions intelligence company - said the footage appears to show interior damage consistent with a relatively small munition, including an entry hole that suggests a munition with a relatively flat trajectory.
Roughly nine minutes later, while dozens of first responders and journalists gathered on the eastern staircase, Israeli forces struck the facility again.
While the blast was documented by media at the time, frame-by-frame analysis of newly emerged footage clearly shows that two separate projectiles fired by Israeli forces hit the hospital milliseconds apart at an exposed stairwell where journalists and emergency workers had gathered.
Experts disagreed on the type of munition used in the third and fourth strikes. Some munitions analysts with whom BBC Verify shared footage with identified the projectiles as Lahat missiles, a guided munition which can be fired from tanks, drones and helicopters. Several outlets in Israel have suggested that the munitions used against the hospital were fired by Israeli tanks stationed nearby.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had no additional comment on the newly identified blasts when approached by BBC Verify. Initially, Israel described the attacks as regrettable while recent statements point to an evolving narrative concerning the rationale behind the strikes.
At least 247 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the UN, making it the deadliest conflict for reporters ever documented. The military campaign initiated by Israel followed a Hamas-led attack that inflicted heavy casualties in southern Israel.
