Israeli air strike kills nine in Gaza, local ministry says, during ceasefire disputes

CAIRO (Reuters) -At least nine Palestinians including three local journalists were killed on Saturday in an Israeli air strike 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 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.

The Israeli military initially said it had struck two "terrorists" operating a drone that posed a threat to its forces and several people who collected the drone equipment.

In another statement it named six men that it said were members of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad who it said had been killed in the incident. Some of the militants had operated "under the cover of journalists", it said.

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.

CEASEFIRE IMPASSE

Later on Saturday, Gaza medics said another Israeli air strike in the town of Juhr Eldeek in the central Gaza Strip killed two Palestinians. The Israeli military said it was unaware of the incident.

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 said its forces have intervened to thwart threats by "terrorists" approaching its forces or planting bombs on the ground near where forces operate.

Since a 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.

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".

Hamas said it had made the offer to release New Jersey native Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army, after receiving a proposal from mediators for negotiations on the second phase.

Israel says it wants to extend the ceasefire's first phase, a proposal backed by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas says it will resume freeing hostages only under the second phase.

The war began when Hamas carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, reduced much of the territory to rubble and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Enas Alashray and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Mark Potter, Susan Fenton and William Mallard)