The Israeli army killed 11 Palestinians, including three journalists, in Gaza on Wednesday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
It was one of the deadliest days in Gaza since a US-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect in early October, halting two years of devastating war in the Palestinian territory.
Wafa said the journalists were killed when Israeli troops attacked their vehicle in central Gaza.
Other local journalists told Reuters the three were on an assignment sponsored by the Egyptian Committee, which supervises Egypt's relief work in Gaza, to film tent encampments built by Egypt for Palestinians displaced by the war.
An Egyptian security source confirmed that the vehicle belonged to the committee but gave no further details, Reuters said.
The Israeli army said it attacked “a number of suspects who operated a drone associated with the Hamas terrorist organisation in the central Gaza Strip, in an area that threatened the forces”, and added that the incident was under review.
The army said earlier that it had “eliminated” a Palestinian militant who crossed the ceasefire separation line and posed a threat to soldiers in southern Gaza.
According to Palestinian medics, a 10-year-old boy was one of three people killed in Israeli tank shelling east of Deir Al Balah in central Gaza on Wednesday. Another boy, 13, and a woman were killed by Israeli gunfire in two separate incidents in eastern Khan Younis in Gaza's south, they told Reuters.
Three other Palestinians were killed in other shootings across the coastal enclave, taking Wednesday's death toll to at least 11, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
The ceasefire brought about a partial Israeli army withdrawal, leaving Israeli troops holding about 53 per cent of the enclave, but they have been gradually expanding their presence in recent weeks, leading to further displacement of Palestinian families. A surge in aid through Gaza's Israeli-controlled border crossing has not materialised.
The US-brokered deal has not progressed beyond the first phase, under which major fighting stopped, Israeli troops staged a partial withdrawal, and Hamas freed hostages in return for Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.
The US last week announced the start of the second phase, under which Hamas is supposed to disarm, Israeli troops withdraw further and an internationally backed administration installed to rebuild the ruined, densely populated territory.
No timetable has been set to implement the plan. Israel says the second phase can proceed only after Hamas hands over the remains of the last Israeli hostage.
Hamas's Gaza spokesman Hazem Qassem said the group had shared all information it had on the body of the last hostage and searched for it but in vain, blaming what it called Israeli army obstruction.
More than 470 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began on October 10, according to the ministry. Israel says three of its soldiers were killed by militants.
Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after a Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023 that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians, local health authorities say. The death toll includes more than 250 journalists and media workers, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
