Three Palestinian journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza, first responders say.
Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said their car was hit in the al-Zahra area and named them as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Anas Ghneim and Abdul Raouf Shaat. They are understood to have been working for an Egyptian relief organisation.
The Israeli military said it struck several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas... in a manner that posed a threat to its troops. It added that the incident was under examination.
Another eight people, two of them children, were killed by Israeli artillery and gunfire across Gaza on Wednesday, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
Medics said three people, including a 10-year-old boy, were killed by Israeli tank fire elsewhere in central Gaza, and that a 13-year-old boy and a woman were killed by Israeli gunfire in the southern Khan Younis area, according to Reuters news agency.
The three photojournalists killed on Wednesday were reportedly working for the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip to film its camps for displaced people.
A spokesperson for the humanitarian organisation said the car that was struck was marked with its logo and that it was targeted during a humanitarian mission, resulting in the martyrdom of three individuals.
Hamas called the strike a dangerous escalation of the flagrant violations of the ceasefire agreement.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said it constituted a war crime and evidence of what it called a systematic Israeli policy aimed at silencing the Palestinian voice, obstructing the transmission of facts, and concealing crimes committed against civilians.
Abdul Raouf Shaat was a regular contributor to French news agency AFP, which expressed immense sadness at his death and demanded a full and transparent investigation.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also said it was appalled. Israel, which possesses advanced technology capable of identifying its targets, has an obligation under international law to protect journalists, regional director Sara Qudah said.
The CPJ has documented the killing of at least 206 journalists and media workers by Israeli fire in Gaza since the start of the war - the deadliest conflict for journalists ever documented.
