GAZA CITY: Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike in the centre of the territory on Wednesday killed three journalists, including a freelancer who regularly contributed for AFP, despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations.
In a statement, the civil defence said "the bodies of the three journalists killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah".
It named the dead as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim.
Shaat had contributed regularly to AFP as a photo and video journalist, but at the time of the strike he was not on assignment for the agency.
The Israeli military said it was checking the reports.
The civil defence, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, said in an earlier statement that an Israeli drone strike had targeted "a civilian vehicle" near Al-Zahra.
Israeli forces have killed at least 466 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
The Israeli military said militants have killed three of its soldiers during the same period.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that Israeli forces killed at least 29 Palestinian journalists in Gaza between December 2024 and December 2025.
The most deadly single attack was a so-called "double-tap" strike on a hospital in south Gaza on August 25, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press.
In total, since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, after the Hamas attack on Israel, nearly 220 journalists have died, making Israel the biggest killer of journalists worldwide for three years running, RSF data shows.
Last week, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff announced the start of phase two of the Gaza ceasefire, saying it aimed to pave the way for reconstruction and the demilitarisation of all armed factions in the territory.