GAZA CITY:
Gazaβs civil defense agency reported that nine individuals, including journalists, were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday. The attacks have raised concerns about further destabilizing the fragile ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.
Hamas condemned the strikes, calling them a “blatant violation” of the truce that has largely held since January 19, ending over 15 months of intense conflict. The initial phase of the ceasefire concluded on March 1 without an agreement on subsequent steps, though both Israel and Hamas have avoided a full-scale return to war.
A senior Hamas official revealed on Tuesday that new negotiations had begun in Doha, with Israel also sending representatives to the talks.
On Saturday, Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal informed AFP that “nine martyrs have been transferred to the hospital, including several journalists and workers from the Al-Khair Charitable Organisation.” He attributed the deaths to an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in Beit Lahia, which occurred alongside artillery shelling in the same area.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry confirmed that “nine martyrs and several injured, including critical cases,” were taken to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza.
In a statement, the Israeli military claimed it targeted “two terrorists operating a drone that posed a threat to IDF troops in the Beit Lahia area.” It added, “Later, a number of additional terrorists collected the drone equipment and entered a vehicle. The IDF struck the terrorists.”
Since early March, Israel has conducted near-daily airstrikes in Gaza, often targeting individuals it claims are militants planting explosives.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned the attack, stating, “The occupation has committed a horrific massacre in the northern Gaza Strip by targeting a group of journalists and humanitarian workers, in a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
In a separate statement, Hamas described the attack as “a dangerous escalation,” accusing Israel of intentionally undermining the ceasefire and obstructing efforts to finalize a prisoner exchange agreement.
During the initial six-week phase of the truce, militants released 33 hostages, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for approximately 1,800 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas stated on Saturday that “the ball is in Israel’s court,” after proposing to release an Israeli-American hostage and return the bodies of four others as part of ongoing truce negotiations.
