GAZA/JERUSALEM - At least 20 Palestinians, including five journalists, were killed on Monday in an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said it launched "an initial inquiry" into the incident.

Gaza-based health authorities said in a press statement that Israeli warplanes targeted the fourth floor of Nasser Hospital, killing 20 and injuring several others.

The authorities condemned the airstrike on the only functioning public hospital in southern Gaza, describing the attack as "a continuation of the systematic destruction" of the health system, and calling on the international community to take immediate and urgent action to protect humanitarian personnel in Gaza.

Palestinian security sources reported that Israeli warplanes targeted the hospital with at least one missile, followed by a second attack as medical crews arrived to retrieve the dead and wounded.

The Hamas media office announced in a statement that the attack on the hospital resulted in the deaths of five journalists who were on a "journalistic reporting mission".

According to the statement, the latest deaths have brought the total number of journalists killed by Israeli army fire in Gaza since Oct 7, 2023 to 245.

In addition, a Civil Defense personnel was killed, and seven others wounded while attempting to rescue the injured and retrieve the dead in the airstrike, bringing the total number of Civil Defense personnel killed by the Israeli army since the conflict began to 139, the authority said.

In a statement, the Israeli military acknowledged targeting Nasser Hospital in Gaza, and expressed regret that the strike resulted in civilian casualties.

"Earlier today, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) troops carried out a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis," southern Gaza, the Israeli military said, without elaborating on the reason for the attack.

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such," it said.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said in a statement that the Israeli army committed a "horrific massacre against journalists" while they were carrying out their professional duty covering the ongoing "aggression" on the Gaza Strip.

The statement held the Israeli army fully responsible for the incident, calling on the International Federation of Journalists to take practical steps to halt "the systematic killing" against journalists in Gaza.

Hamas, in a statement, considered the killing of the journalists "a war crime and a horrific massacre aimed at discouraging journalists from reporting the truth", calling on the international community and the United Nations to take immediate and serious action.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called in a statement for the formation of a UN peacekeeping force to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure the sustainable delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.

Turkiye also slammed the killing of the journalists. "Press freedom and human values have been targeted once again, in the shadow of genocide, amid the cries of pain from the innocent," Burhanettin Duran, head of the country's communications directorate, said in a post on social media platform X.

"Israel, which continues its oppression without regard for any humanitarian or legal principles, believes it can prevent the truth from being reported through systematic attacks on journalists," Duran said.

Meanwhile, airdrops of aid packages continued on Monday, Israel said, as famine claimed the lives of 11 more people, according to Gaza health authorities.

In a statement, Israel's military said that Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Indonesia airdropped 116 aid packages containing food.

However, aid agencies and experts say the airdrops are insufficient, unsafe, and ineffective in stopping hunger in the Palestinian enclave. They have called on Israel to allow more truck convoys and to enable the rebuilding of Gaza's health system, which airstrikes have largely destroyed.

Gaza health authorities reported that as of Monday, at least 300 people -- including 117 children -- had died of hunger in Gaza.

Meanwhile, as Israeli troops continued their onslaught throughout Gaza, at least 58 people were killed by strikes and gunfire over the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 62,744, with 158,259 others injured since Oct 7, 2023, the authorities added.