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| London: On Saturday, participants in a march calling for an end to Israel's siege of Gaza and attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank wave Palestinian flags and hold placards. |
CAIRO: At least nine Palestinians were killed, including two local journalists, and others wounded on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s northern Beit Lahiya town, Gaza’s health ministry said, as Hamas’ leaders hold Gaza ceasefire talks with mediators in Cairo.
Health officials said that there were casualties both inside and outside the vehicle when the strike hit, with several critically injured. Witnesses and fellow journalists reported that the passengers in the car were in Beit Lahiya on a mission for the Al-Khair Foundation, a charitable organization, when the strike occurred. Palestinian media reported that among the dead were at least three local journalists.
The incident underscores the fragility of the Jan. 19 ceasefire agreement that halted large-scale fighting in the Gaza Strip. Despite the truce, several people, according to Palestinian health officials, have been killed by Israeli fire. Hamas, a Palestinian organization, issued a statement in response to the most recent deaths, stating that 150 Palestinians have been killed since January 19 and accusing Israel of attempting to violate the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the impasse and urged mediators to pressure Israel to implement the phased ceasefire deal. Israel has refused to open the second phase of talks since the March 2 expiration of the first phase of the ceasefire, which would have required it to negotiate a permanent end to the conflict, Hamas' primary demand.
Khalil Al-Hayya, the Gaza chief of Hamas who has been exiled, was in Cairo at the time of the incident to continue ceasefire talks with Israel to resolve disagreements that could lead to 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 toward a permanent end to the conflict—an offer Israel dismissed as “psychological warfare.”
After receiving a proposal from mediators for negotiations on the second phase of a ceasefire agreement, Hamas stated that it had made the offer to release Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army. Israel says it wants to extend the temporary first phase of the ceasefire, and US envoy Steve Witkoff supports this idea. Hamas claims that only during the second phase will it resume releasing prisoners. During the truce’s initial six-week phase, fighters released 33 prisoners, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas said that “the ball is in Israel’s court” after offering to release an Israeli-US prisoner and return the bodies of four others as part of the truce talks.
“This heinous crime comes in the context of the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists, who pay with their lives to convey the truth and expose the crimes of the occupation to the world,” a Palestinian Journalists Syndicate statement said.
"The continued use of these barbaric attacks against journalists is a war crime and a flagrant violation of international law, particularly the Geneva Convention, which guarantees the protection of journalists during conflicts."
The director of Hamas-affiliated media in Gaza, Ismail Thawabteh, said that local photojournalists were killed while “using a drone to capture images of a Ramzan dining table in Beit Lahia.”
He said they were “directly targeted by the occupation in two air strikes, despite their work being clear.”