Israeli air strike kills nine Palestinians, including three journalists, ceasefire talks to remain…, Netanyahu to…

In a statement, the Israeli military said that it had struck two individuals that it identified as "terrorists" operating a drone that it said posed a threat to forces in Beit Lahiya.

Cairo: Israel on Saturday launched airstrikes on Gaza’s northern Beit Lahiya town as Hamas leaders held ceasefire talks with mediators in Cairo. According to the local health ministry, at least nine Palestinians, including three local journalists, were killed and others were wounded in the attack. Several were critically injured as the strike hit a car, with casualties inside and outside the vehicle, health officials told Reuters.

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.

In a statement, the Israeli military said that it had struck two individuals that it identified as “terrorists” operating a drone that it said posed a threat to forces in Beit Lahiya. The military later struck several other suspects who it said had collected the drone equipment and entered a vehicle.

The military did not say how it had determined that the individuals it had struck were “terrorists” or
provide detail on the threat that the drone had posed to its soldiers.

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.

“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.

Hamas accused Israel in a statement of attempting to renege on the ceasefire agreement, putting the number of Palestinians killed since January 19 at 150.

It urged mediators to compel Israel to move ahead with the implementation of the phased ceasefire deal, blaming Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the impasse.

Responding to some of the incidents reported by Gaza medics, the Israeli military says its forces have intervened to thwart threats by “terrorists” approaching its forces or planting bombs on the ground near where forces operate.

Since a temporary first phase of the ceasefire expired on March 2, Israel has rejected opening the second phase of talks, which would require it to negotiate over a permanent end to the war, the main demand of Hamas.

The incidents coincided with a visit by Hamas’ exiled Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, to Cairo for further ceasefire talks aimed at resolving disputes with Israel that could risk a resumption of fighting.

(With Inputs from Reuters)