Officials say Israel is detaining patients and staff in a raid on one of the last hospitals in northern Gaza

On Friday, Israel was accused of war crimes killing of three journalists in Lebanon and ethnic cleansing as it waged a deadly offensive in Gaza despite renewed U.S. efforts to secure a ceasefire this weekend.

An airstrike in southern Lebanon killed three media workers, their networks and local officials, sparking widespread reaction. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks in southern Gaza killed 38 people, and Israeli forces detained patients and staff while besieging and storming one of Gaza’s few operating hospitals. north of the Palestinian enclavelocal health officials say.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attacks.

They came as Secretary of State Antoni Blinken completed a tour of the Middle East aimed at ending the growing conflict in the region – and as US and Israeli negotiators prepared to travel to Qatar in the coming days to resume ceasefire talks with Hamas.

Talks will resume on Sunday in Doha, according to a senior administration official, as the United States tries to seize the opportunity to accelerate negotiations following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. CIA Director William Burns will represent Washington as the intelligence chiefs of the US, Qatar, Egypt and Israel meet at a critical moment.

Blinken met the foreign minister of regional broker Jordan, Ayman Safadi, in London on Friday. Safadi rebuked Israel’s actions in Lebanon and Gaza, accusing the country of “ethnic cleansing” through an offensive in northern Gaza that has forced tens of thousands to flee and stoked fears of starvation.

He also appeared to criticize Washington’s efforts to contain Israel’s actions in the region, saying: “We have an Israeli government that doesn’t listen to anyone.”

In Lebanon, the Beirut-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV reported that two of its journalists – camera operator Ghassan Najar and broadcast technician Mohammed Rida – were killed in an Israeli strike that hit an apartment complex for journalists in the southeast of the country. early hours of Friday morning.

Photos from the scene show burned cars with the word “PRESS” written on them, covered with rubble.

Broadcaster Al-Manar, owned by the Iran-backed militant and political group Hezbollah, said its camera operator Wissam Qassim was also killed in the strike, which took place in the Hasbaya region.

Lebanon’s health ministry said another three media workers were also injured in the attack, which left three workers dead, meaning more than 2,500 people have been killed in the country since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began last year hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary has accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists in an attack he says constitutes a “war crime.”

The deadly attack comes as Israel faces growing accusations of deliberately targeting journalists in Gaza, which it denies. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 128 journalists have been killed in Gaza during the year-long Israeli offensive in the enclave. CPJ warned that more journalists were killed in the first 10 weeks of Israel’s offensive in Gaza than at any time in a single country in an entire year.

Earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces named six journalists working with Al Jazeera, saying they had been “unmasked as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.”

The network denied the accusations and described them as “a blatant attempt to silence the few journalists left in the region.” CPJ found that Israel “has repeatedly made similar unsubstantiated claims without providing credible evidence.” A statement posted on social media on Friday said it “strongly condemns Israel’s killing of three journalists.”

“The international community must take action to end Israel’s long pattern of impunity in the killings of journalists,” it said.

Dozens dead in Khan Younis and chaos at a hospital in northern Gaza

Meanwhile, in Gaza, the health ministry said 38 people were killed and dozens injured in Israeli attacks on the southern town of Khan Younis. It also said that Israeli forces “have entered and are present inside.” Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia as they continued their deadly assault into the north of the enclave.

The health ministry said Israeli forces detained hundreds of patients, medical staff and displaced Palestinians who had sought refuge in a hospital amid widespread Israeli strikes in the northern Gaza Strip.

“The situation in the hospital is catastrophic in every sense of the word,” the health ministry said.

The IDF did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on the Khan Younis strikes or the situation at the hospital Friday morning.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his organization had lost contact with hospital staff.

“This situation is deeply concerning given the number of patients served and sheltered there,” he said.

He noted that before the reported raid, WHO and other partners managed to reach the hospital late Thursday evening and transport at least 23 patients and 26 caregivers to Al-Shifa Hospital. He said the team also delivered 180 units of blood, trauma and surgical supplies and medicines.

COGAT, Israel’s military liaison with the Palestinians, said in a statement Friday that it helped facilitate the transfer. It was also reported that fuel had been delivered to the facility. COGAT did not address the raid reported at the hospital in its statement and did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for further comment.

Israel has carried out a weeks-long intensified offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis. According to local health officials, more than 600 people died in the offensive.

The IDF said Friday that its forces were continuing their attack on the Jabalia refugee camp, from which thousands of people have fled amid heavy airstrikes. It said its troops were also active in both the southern and central Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces launched a deadly attack on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp area on Thursday. The IDF said its forces were targeting Hamas fighters operating in the “center command and control group” on the school grounds.