At least nine people were killed Saturday in strikes on Gaza, authorities there said, as Israel continues to launch operations during its ceasefire with Hamas.
Eight of the dead were killed in back-to-back strikes on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. They included seven humanitarian workers and another worker from the camp, according to the Al-Khair Foundation, a charity based in Britain and Turkey.
At least 150 Palestinians have been killed in such strikes since the fragile truce took effect in mid-January, Hamas said Saturday, including 19 on Friday and Saturday. Local news media and civil defense authorities in Gaza have reported the deaths of civilians, including women and children.
The Israel Defense Forces told The Washington Post that it carried out the airstrike Saturday after it observed a group of men “operating a drone intended to carry out terrorist attacks against IDF troops.”
The Israeli military named six of the people killed as members of the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups and accused two of them, Bilal Mahmoud Fouad Abu Matar and Mahmoud Imad Hassan Aslim, of being Hamas militants who “operated under the cover” of journalists.
Mohammed Abu Hasna, director of the Al-Khair Foundation’s international offices, said humanitarian workers were opening camps for displaced Gazans when one of their vehicles was bombed Saturday. Two photographers, who were documenting the work, were killed.
The organization sent another car to evacuate the survivors, Abu Hasna said, but “as soon as they got into the vehicle, they were targeted and all killed.” The dead included seven foundation workers and someone from the camp, he said.
Abu Hasna said “the claim that they pose a threat to the army” was “nonsense and unrealistic.”
There were no restrictions on setting up camps in the area, he said, the foundation typically documents its work, and the IDF was at least four kilometers away.
“This isn’t the first time they’ve targeted humanitarian workers and then leveled false accusations,” he said.
Hamas called the attack a “dangerous escalation” that reflected Israel’s “insistence of continuing aggression” and “intention to renounce the ceasefire agreement.”
The ceasefire was envisioned as a three-phase deal, but talks to extend it have stalled.
The first phase, during which some Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were released, ended on March 1. The second is supposed to include the release of all living hostages still held by Hamas, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and the end of the war, but the sides have yet to start negotiations.
Four boys were killed Friday in an Israeli strike in Gaza City, NBC News reported. Brothers Mahmoud Alerfan, 15, and Yusuf Alerfan, 13, and their friends Malik Althatha, 13, and Salim Hasnin, 15, had stepped outside to procure firewood for the evening meal to break the daily Ramadan fast.
Umm Mahmoud Alerfan clutched her sons’ bodies and wailed: “I did not allow them outside, but today I did. Why did they come out today?”
The IDF, when asked about the incident, said its forces had identified and struck “several terrorists … operating near IDF troops in central Gaza and attempting to plant explosive devices on the ground.”
Central Gaza is an administrative region that is separate from Gaza City, where the four boys were killed, and the areas are miles apart. The IDF did not respond to a request to clarify the discrepancy.
An earlier version of this story failed to include comment from the Israel Defense Forces about the deaths of four boys in Gaza City. The story has been corrected.
