Mourners on Monday wept and the prayed over the body of freelance journalist Mariam Dagga after she was killed by Israeli strikes on southern Gaza’s main hospital.

Riyad Dagga, Mariam's father, was seen crying next to her body.

Israel hit Nasser Hospital with a missile and then fired another as journalists and rescue workers rushed to the scene, killing at least 20 people, local health workers said.

Dagga had freelanced for The Associated Press and other news outlets.

The AP said in a statement that it was shocked and saddened to learn of Dagga's death, along with those of other journalists.

The visual journalist, who has a 13-year-old son who was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war, frequently based herself at Nasser, most recently reporting on the hospital's doctors struggling to save children from starvation.

Independent Arabia, the Arabic language version of the British Independent, said Dagga also worked with the organization.

Al Jazeera and Reuters also confirmed their journalists and freelancers were among those killed.

Israel’s military in a statement confirmed it had struck targets in the area of the hospital, the latest in a series of attacks on Gaza's health facilities throughout 22 months of its offensive.

The hospitals that remain open have been overwhelmed by the dead, wounded and now by increasing numbers of malnourished as parts of Gaza are now in famine.

Palestinians are bracing for an expected Israeli offensive into Gaza City, the territory's most populated area with hundreds of thousands of people, many of them displaced.

AP video by Samaher Abu Farhana