Nine killed in Israeli attack in northern Gaza, officials say, in deadliest strike since ceasefire began

Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike in the northern Gaza Strip on March 15. Mahmoud Issa/Reuters via CNN Newsource

At least nine charity workers have been killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, the enclave’s Government Media Office said Saturday, making it the deadliest incident since the ceasefire went into effect in January.

The Israeli military said it had targeted “terrorists” who were operating and then attempted to retrieve a drone.

Gaza’s health ministry confirmed that nine people had been killed. Multiple people, some with critical injuries, were transported to Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, the ministry said.

Of those killed, three were part of a media team documenting humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Protection Center.

Hamas accused the Israeli military in a statement of committing “a horrific massacre in Beit Lahia, claiming the lives of nine martyrs working for a charity engaged in humanitarian efforts at shelters and displacement centers.”

“The targeting of unarmed civilians, especially those providing humanitarian aid to displaced and homeless individuals, constitutes a blatant violation of international and humanitarian law,” Ismail Thawabta, Director General of Hamas’ Government Media Office, added.

One eyewitness, Mahmoud Louay Atiya, told CNN he had to put out a fire caused by the strike using bottles of water.

“I helped two people – one I pulled out was already dead, and the other was injured but still alive. I managed to take out multiple bodies. There were no ambulances or fire trucks,” he said.

Another man said that his 17-year-old son was killed in the attack, despite not being affiliated “with the resistance or Hamas.”

“He was working in one of the camps, and they told me he had been killed. I don’t know exactly how it happened,” he told CNN.

The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that two “terrorists” had been targeted in the area of Beit Lahia as they were “operating a drone that posed a threat to IDF troops.”

“Later, a number of additional terrorists collected the drone operating equipment and entered a vehicle. The IDF struck the terrorists,” the military added.

Israeli military operations inside Gaza have continued since the ceasefire began – in response, the IDF has said, to threats to its troops or Hamas violations, but there has been a decline in casualties.

Saturday’s deadly strike comes shortly after the United States put forward a new proposal that would secure the release of a handful of living hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a month-long extension of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Under the US proposal, Israel would also lift its blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been ongoing for nearly two weeks, a source familiar with the negotiations said.

Hamas said Friday it had responded to a proposal to extend the ceasefire, “which included its approval” to release American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and the bodies of four dual nationals held hostage in Gaza.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Lauren Izso and Dana Karni contributed to this report.