At least five journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian TV channel reports.
They were reportedly in a Quds Today van parked outside al-Awda hospital, where the wife of one of the journalists was about to give birth, in the central Nuseirat refugee camp.
The channel posted a video of what it said was the burning vehicle with “press” signage on the back doors.
The Israeli Air Force said it had attacked “in a targeted manner and with intelligence guidance” a vehicle with members of the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) inside. It added that measures had been taken to minimise civilian casualties.
Quds Today is linked with the PIJ faction, which participated in Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The unprecedented attack set off the war in Gaza.
In a related development, five individuals were reported dead in Israeli strikes on Gaza City on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency and the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry also reported that 20 more people were hurt in the city’s al-Zeitoun neighbourhood.
The Israeli military has not responded to the purported bombing.
Meanwhile, the father of a two-week-old Palestinian girl has informed the BBC that his infant daughter died from frostbite in a tent in Gaza, becoming the third kid in a week to die in similar conditions.
Mahmoud Ismail Al-Faseeh stated he awoke in the bitter cold to find his daughter, Sila, having convulsions.
The head of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis told the Associated Press that she was rushed to the hospital but died of hypothermia.
The family was taking refuge in the al-Mawasi neighbourhood on Gaza’s coast, which the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) classified as a humanitarian zone but has been targeted by air attacks.
According to Ahmed al-Farra, the head of paediatrics, two more newborns, one three days old and the other a month old, were brought in within the last 48 hours after dying from hypothermia.
Hopes of progress towards a truce in recent days have begun to fade, with Hamas and Israel trading blame at each other.
Hamas accused Israel of setting “new conditions” that were delaying the agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu iistated that the organisation was violating previously agreed-upon understandings over a potential truce.
Following encouraging signs, both parties’ most recent pronouncements reflect a significant shift in tone.
Following last year’s Hamas onslaught, the Israeli military started air strikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The attack killed approximately 1,200 individuals, while another 251 were carried back to Gaza as hostages.
No fewer than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s health ministry says. Almost two million people—90% of the population—have been displaced, according to the UN.
