GAZA/JERUSALEM, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Eleven Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Wednesday across Gaza amid escalating tensions, according to Palestinian sources.
An Israeli drone strike targeted a civilian vehicle near the Turkish Hospital in al-Zahra city in central Gaza, local sources and witnesses said, noting that the vehicle carried Palestinian photographers working for the Egyptian Committee for Relief to the Gaza Strip.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defense, told Xinhua that the strike killed three people -- Mohammed Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaath, and Anas Ghneim -- all media workers, and wounded several others.
Later in the day, the Israeli military responded in a statement that the attack targeted "several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas."
"The strike was conducted in accordance with the required chain of command approvals," it said, adding that the incident is still under review.
Seperately, three people were killed by Israeli artillery shelling on areas east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, whose bodies were transferred to a nearby hospital, Bassal said.
Three more, including a child, were killed by gunfire and artillery shelling east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, he said, adding that a 13-year-old boy and a 32-year-old woman were killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Israeli aircraft conducted three airstrikes on the town of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, and three more in central Gaza, with helicopters and artillery also striking areas near Khan Younis and west of Rafah.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that "IDF troops in the Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat."
Hamas on Wednesday accused Israel of deliberately exploiting the failure to recover the last Israeli captive's body in Gaza to evade its obligations under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
A fragile ceasefire in Gaza has been in effect since Oct. 10, 2025. However, at least 466 Palestinians have been killed and 1,294 others injured in Gaza since Oct. 11, bringing the total death toll of the Gaza conflict to 71,551, with 171,372 injured, according to an update released by Gaza's health authorities on Tuesday. ■
