Gaza civil defence says 9 killed Friday when Israeli forces fired at bus

GAZA CITY - Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed nine members of a single Palestinian family when they shelled a bus on Friday, after the military confirmed it had targeted a vehicle that crossed the so-called "yellow line".

"Our teams recovered the bodies of nine martyrs, including four children and two women, after Israeli occupation forces directly targeted the vehicle they were travelling in within the Zeitun neighbourhood," said Mahmud Bassal, a spokesperson for the agency operating under Hamas authority, in a statement to AFP on Saturday.

The Israeli military said a vehicle had been identified crossing the "yellow line", the boundary behind which Israeli troops are stationed under the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Bassal said Israeli forces had fired "two tank shells at the vehicle". The military said it had fired warning shots first.

He noted that the bodies of two children remained missing, as their "remains were scattered due to the intensity of the bombardment".

According to Bassal, recovering the remains has been particularly challenging because of the "difficult field and environmental conditions" in the area.

He added that the victims were members of the Shabaan family and were killed while "trying to check on their home" in the Zeitun neighbourhood.

"My daughter, her children and her husband; my son, his children and his wife were killed," said Umm Mohammed Shaaban, member of the family.

"What did they do wrong?... There is no truce," she added, and said that the children were between two and 12 years old.

The Israeli military said in a statement that "troops fired warning shots toward the suspicious vehicle, but the vehicle continued to approach the troops in a way that caused an imminent threat to them".

"The troops opened fire to remove the threat, in accordance with the agreement."

The ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas is now in its second week, but several incidents have been reported since it began, with the military saying its troops fired at individuals who approached or crossed the yellow line.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza in search of their homes since the truce began, often strugglingto find them amid the sweeping devastation left by more than two years of war.

Several Gazans who spoke to AFP said they were unable to locate their houses, or even familiar landmarks, in neighbourhoods now buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and debris.