A sad event has occurred in northern Gaza, where a group of charity personnel have died in Israeli airstrikes, the UK-registered Al Khair Foundation said. Eight people, including the charity’s volunteers and freelance journalists covering their work, were killed when their vehicles were hit on Saturday, the charity said. Hamas denounced the attack as a “blatant violation” of the current ceasefire with Israel.
The Israeli military replied that it had attacked “two terrorists who were running a drone that threatened Israeli soldiers” and then hit more people who had come to the scene. Nevertheless, the charity denied allegations that its team members were engaged in any terrorist actions.
Qasim Rashid Ahmad, chairman and founder of the Al Khair Foundation, stated that the crew was in the region to place tents and take footage of what they were doing for promotional content. Ahmad reported that the cameramen went back to their van and were struck, and the rest of the crew who rushed to help them were attacked by an Israeli drone that had escorted them to their second vehicle.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) asserted that their targets were individuals who were running a drone that posed a threat to their soldiers in Beit Lahia. They further stated that follow-up attacks were against others who gathered the drone gear and got into a car.
Among the dead were video editor Bilal Abu Matar and cameramen Mahmoud Al-Sarraj, Bilal Aqila, and Mahmoud Asleem, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate. The group condemned Israel for what it called “systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists,” who put their lives on the line to report the truth.
Several others were injured in the attack and were taken to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, the Hamas-government health ministry reported. Spokesman Hazem Qassem blamed Israel for perpetrating a “horrific massacre” in the area.
Even though there has been a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel since January, its continuity is in doubt because negotiations have hit a roadblock. The initial stage of the multi-step agreement provided for the return of hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, attacks in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel.
Efforts to renew the ceasefire, which expired on March 1, have failed to reach an agreement. There are ongoing efforts to establish a U.S.-suggested extension involving additional hostage and prisoner exchanges. Washington has accused Hamas of issuing “wholly impractical” proposals, while Hamas has demanded immediate talks about a permanent ceasefire as in the deal negotiated by Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S.
The violence on October 7 was the greatest escalation yet of the fighting, causing approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 being taken as hostages to Gaza. The reaction from Israel has been a wide-scale military assault on the land, and this is claimed to have led to more than 48,300 dead, said Gaza’s Hamas-led health ministry.
