At least five Palestinians were killed, including two local journalists, and others were wounded on Saturday in an Israeli strike on Gaza's northern Beit Lahiya town, Hamas Health Ministry medics told Reuters, as the terrorist organization's leaders hold Gaza ceasefire talks with mediators in Cairo.
Several were critically injured as the strike hit a car, with casualties inside and outside the vehicle, the medics added.
Witnesses and fellow journalists said the people in the car were on a mission for a charity called Al-Khair Foundation in Beit Lahiya, and they were accompanied by journalists and photographers when the strike hit them.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The incident underscores the fragility of the January 19 ceasefire agreement that halted large-scale fighting in the Gaza Strip. Hamas Health Ministry officials say dozens of people have been killed by Israeli fire despite the truce.
IDF soldiers in northern Gaza Strip conducting operation in the area of the Indonesian Hospital, where a Hamas launch site was located. (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)
IDF soldiers in northern Gaza Strip conducting operation in the area of the Indonesian Hospital, where a Hamas launch site was located. (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)
Shaky ceasefire proceedings
Responding to some of the incidents reported by medics in the Hamas-run enclave, the Israeli military says its forces have intervened to thwart threats by terrorists approaching its forces or planting bombs on the ground near where forces operate.
Since a temporary first phase of the ceasefire expired on March 2, Israel has rejected opening the second phase of talks, which would require it to negotiate over a permanent end to the war, the main demand of Hamas.
The incident coincided with a visit by Hamas's exiled Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, to Cairo for further ceasefire talks aimed at resolving disputes with Israel that could risk a resumption of fighting in the enclave.
On Friday, Hamas said it had agreed to free an American-Israeli dual national if Israel begins the next phase of ceasefire talks towards a permanent end to the war, an offer Israel dismissed as "psychological warfare."
Hamas said it had made the offer to release New Jersey native Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army, after receiving a proposal from mediators for negotiations on the second phase of a ceasefire deal.
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Israel says it wants to extend the ceasefire's temporary first phase, a proposal backed by US envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas says it will resume freeing hostages only under the second phase.
The war began when Hamas carried out a massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages.
The subsequent Israel-Hamas War has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas Health Ministry officials, and reduced much of the territory to rubble and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.