Israeli fire strikes journalists and children in Gaza

CAIRO/GAZA — Israeli forces on Wednesday killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza, including two 13-year-old boys, three journalists and a woman, hospitals said, on one of the enclave's deadliest days since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in October.

The United States is trying to push the deal forward and implement its challenging second phase.

Among the dead were three Palestinian journalists who were killed while filming near a displacement camp in central Gaza, a camp official said. Israel's military said it had spotted suspects who were operating a drone that posed a threat to its troops.

The two boys were killed in separate incidents. In one incident, a 13-year-old, his father, and a 22-year-old man were hit by Israeli drones on the eastern side of the Bureij refugee camp, according to officials from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, which received the bodies.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the three had crossed into Israeli-controlled areas.

The other 13-year-old was shot by troops in the eastern town of Bani Suheila, Nasser Hospital said after receiving the body. In a video circulated online, the father of Moatsem al-Sharafy is seen weeping over it.

The boy's mother, Safaa al-Sharafy, told The Associated Press that he had left to gather firewood so she could cook.

"He went out in the morning, hungry," she said, tears running down her cheeks. "He told me he'd go quickly and come back."

Later Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit a vehicle carrying the three Palestinian journalists who were filming a new displacement camp managed by an Egyptian government committee in the Netzarim area, said Mohamed Mansour, the committee's spokesman.

Mansour said the journalists were documenting the committee's work and that the strike occurred about 5 kilometers from the Israeli-controlled area. He said the vehicle was known to Israel's military as belonging to the committee. Video footage showed the charred and smoking vehicle by the roadside.

One journalist killed, Abdul Raouf Shaat, was a regular contributor to Agence France-Presse, but he was not on assignment for it at the time, the news agency said.

"Abdul was much loved by the AFP team covering Gaza. They remember him as a kind-hearted colleague," the agency said in a statement that demanded a full investigation into his death.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes injured 19 people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, including eight journalists, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health.

A ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel, brokered by the United States and France, took effect on Nov 27, 2024. Despite the agreement, Israeli forces have continued to carry out intermittent strikes in Lebanon, citing security threats from Hezbollah.

Agencies - Xinhua