GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, March 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gaza's civil 
defence agency said nine people including journalists were killed in Israeli 
strikes in the north Saturday, an attack Hamas denounced as a "blatant 
violation" of the fragile ceasefire.

"Nine martyrs have been transferred (to hospital), including several 
journalists and a number of workers from the Al-Khair Charitable 
Organisation, as a result of the occupation targeting a vehicle with a drone 
in the town of Beit Lahia, coinciding with artillery shelling on the same 
area," civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory reported that 
"nine martyrs and several injured, including critical cases, have arrived at 
the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza Strip, due to the ongoing Israeli 
aggression".

In a statement, the Israeli military said it struck "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.

After the strikes, Hamas accused Israel of violating the Gaza truce deal.

"The occupation (Israel) 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.

The director of Hamas-affiliated media in Gaza, Ismail Thawabteh, told AFP 
that local photo journalists were killed while "using a drone to capture 
images of a Ramadan dining table in Beit Lahia".

He said they were "directly targeted by the occupation in two air strikes, 
despite their work being clear".

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 truce in Israel's war with Hamas, in effect since January 19, has largely 
held despite the attacks and with no agreement yet on extending the 
ceasefire.

The first phase of the truce ended on March 1, but both Israel and Hamas have 
refrained from returning to all-out war.