Nine killed in Israeli Gaza strikes

Attacks can endanger fragile truce

GAZA CITY:

Gaza's civil defence agency said nine people, including journalists, were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday, attacks which could further endanger the fragile truce in the Palestinian territory.

Following the reported strikes, the deadliest since the ceasefire took hold on January 19, Hamas accused Israel of a "blatant violation" of the truce which largely halted more than 15 months of fighting.

The first phase of the truce ended on March 1 without agreement on the next steps, but both Israel and Hamas have refrained from returning to all-out war.

A senior Hamas official said on Tuesday fresh talks had begun in Doha, with Israel also sending negotiators.

On Saturday, Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP that "nine martyrs have been transferred (to hospital), including several journalists and a number of workers from the Al-Khair Charitable Organisation".

He said the killings were "as a result of the occupation (Israel) targeting a vehicle with a drone in the town of Beit Lahia, coinciding with artillery shelling on the same area".

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said "nine martyrs and several injured, including critical cases" were taken to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it hit "two terrorists... operating a drone that posed a threat to IDF troops in the area of Beit Lahia".

"Later, a number of additional terrorists collected the drone operating equipment and entered a vehicle. The IDF struck the terrorists," it added.

Israel has carried out near-daily air strikes in Gaza since early March, often targeting what the military said were militants planting explosive devices.

"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," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement.

A separate Hamas statement said the attack was "a dangerous escalation", adding that it "reaffirms (Israel's) intent to backtrack on the ceasefire agreement and intentionally obstruct any opportunity to complete the agreement and carry out the prisoner swap".

During the truce's initial six-week phase, militants released 33 hostages, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.

Hamas said Saturday that "the ball is in Israel's court" after offering to release an Israeli-US hostage and return the bodies of four others as part of the truce talks.