An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City killed two Palestinian journalists early Tuesday, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Wafa identified the journalists as editor Saeed Al-Taweel and photographer Mohammed Sobih. The airstrike occurred close to an area housing several media offices.
Meanwhile, three Palestinian journalists were reportedly shot and killed while reporting in Gaza on Saturday. Committee to Protect Journalists, citing Palestinian press freedom groups, identified two of them as photographer Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi and reporter Mohammad Jarghoun.
CPJ also said that reports confirmed that freelance reporter Mohammad El-Salhi was shot dead in the central Gaza Strip.
Lafi worked for Ain Media, and Jarghoun reported for Smart Media, CPJ said.
In addition, Ibrahim Qanan, a correspondent for Al-Ghad channel, sustained injuries due to shrapnel in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, CPJ said, quoting Palestinian press freedom groups.
Two Palestinian photographers, Nidal Al-Wahidi from the Al-Najah channel and Haitham Abdelwahid from the Ain Media agency have also been reported missing since Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday declared that Israel's fierce offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has “only started.”
Israel formally declared war on Sunday. The hostilities so far have killed around 900 people in Israel and more than 680 people in Gaza, according to authorities on each side.
Israel and Hamas have had repeated conflicts in past years, often sparked by tensions around Al-Aqsa Mosque, a holy site in Jerusalem. This time, the context has become potentially more explosive.
Tens of thousands of Gaza residents continued to flee. The U.N. said Tuesday that more than 187,000 of Gaza's 2.3 million people have left their homes — the most since a 2014 air and ground offensive by Israel uprooted about 400,000
New exchanges on Israel’s northern border Monday raised worries that the war could spread to a new front.
Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua told AP that the group’s fighters continued to battle outside Gaza and had captured more Israelis as recently as Monday morning.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, Palestinians entered a fourth day under severe movement restrictions.
The elusive leader of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, announced the beginning of what he called “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.”
The Al-Aqsa mosque situated on a hill is considered as the third holiest by Muslims, after Mecca and Medina.
“Enough is enough,” he said in the recorded message, as he called on Palestinians to join the fight. He said Hamas had fired over 5,000 rockets into Israel.
The launches came after weeks of heightened tensions along Israel's volatile border with Gaza, and heavy fighting in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel has maintained a blockade over Gaza since Hamas, an Islamic militant group that opposes Israel, seized control of the territory in 2007.
(With inputs from AP)