At least nine Palestinians including three local journalists were killed and others wounded Saturday in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza's northern Beit Lahiya town, the local health ministry said, as Hamas leaders held ceasefire talks with mediators in Cairo.
Several were critically injured as the strike hit a car, with casualties inside and outside the vehicle, health officials said.
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. At least three local journalists were among the dead, according to Palestinian media.
The incident underscores the fragility of the January 19 ceasefire agreement that halted large-scale fighting in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian health officials say dozens of people have been killed by Israeli fire despite the truce.
Salama Marouf, the head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, denied the army's allegations that it targeted 'terrorists'.
"The team was made of civilians and worked in an area near a shelter on a mission sponsored by a charity. They were not in a prohibited area and didn't pose any danger of any kind to the occupation army," Marouf said in a statement.
Gaza's civil defence agency said that among the nine killed were at least three photo journalists, one a drone photography specialist, and a driver.
It said two of the photographers worked for the Oman-based Ayn television channel.
Two members of the Al-Khair charitable organisation were killed, including a spokesperson, the civil defence agency said.
The director of Hamas-affiliated media in Gaza, Ismail Thawabteh, said that local photo journalists were killed while "using a drone to capture images of a Ramadan dining table in Beit Lahia".
Later Saturday, Gaza medics said another Israeli airstrike in the town of Juhr Eldeek in the central Gaza Strip killed two Palestinians.
The Palestinian resistance group accused Israel in a statement of attempting to renege on the ceasefire agreement, putting the number of Palestinians killed since January 19 at 150.
The incident coincided with a visit by Hamas' exiled Gaza chief, Khalil al-Hayya, to Cairo for further ceasefire talks.
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."
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.
Region
Israeli airstrike kills 9 in Gaza; no headway in truce talks
3 local journalists among victims

Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. REUTERS

Mourners react near the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. REUTERS

Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. REUTERS

Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. REUTERS

Mourners react near the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. REUTERS

Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. REUTERS

Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. REUTERS