A woman is comforted as she bids farewell to the victims killed by Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia  —AFP

Agencies CNN BEIT LAHIA (Gaza Strip)

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

The Israeli military said the strike had killed six “terrorists” who were operating and then attempted to retrieve a drone. Among them were a person involved in the Hamas-led October 7 attack, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

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 Centre.

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

The IDF said in a statement, “A number of terrorists were eliminated in the strike, including terrorists who operated under the cover of journalists,” it said in a statement. One man said 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.