Gaza’s civil defence agency reported nine individuals, including journalists, were killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday, attacks that would further threaten the tenuous truce in the Palestinian region. In response to the reported attacks, the deadliest since the truce became effective on January 19, Hamas called upon Israel to commit a “blatant violation” of the truce which effectively ended over 15 months of fighting.
The initial stage of the ceasefire expired on March 1 without a decision on what to do next, but neither Israel nor Hamas has gone back to full-scale war. A senior Hamas leader stated on Tuesday that new negotiations had started in Doha, with Israel also dispatching negotiators.
Saturday, Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal informed AFP that “nine martyrs have been transferred, including several journalists and several workers from the Al-Khair Charitable Organisation”. He added that the killings were “a result of the occupation targeting a vehicle with a drone in the town of Beit Lahia, coinciding with artillery shelling on the same area”.
Hamas-ruled Gaza‘s health ministry stated that “nine martyrs and some injured, among them critical cases” were evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital in north Gaza. Issuing a statement, the Israeli military stated that it struck “two terrorists. running a drone that threatened IDF forces in the region of Beit Lahia.”.
“Subsequently, several more terrorists gathered the drone operating gear and got into a car. The IDF attacked the terrorists,” it continued. The Jewish state has conducted almost daily air raids on Gaza since March, usually aiming at what the military described as militants placing explosive devices.
“The profession has committed an ugly massacre in the northern Gaza Strip targeting a team of journalists and humanitarian staff, in a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem stated in a press release.
