By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

UPDATE:

Hamas said that the horrific massacre committed by the Israeli occupation army in Beit Lahiya on Saturday is a dangerous escalation that reflects its disregard for international law.

In a statement, Hamas considered the occupation’s escalation as confirmation of its intention to violate the ceasefire agreement and squander any opportunity to continue its implementation and exchange prisoners.

The Palestinian resistance movement added that the increase in the occupation’s crimes since the ceasefire began places the mediators and the United Nations in a position of responsibility to stop these crimes.

Hamas called on the mediators “to take urgent action and pressure war criminal Netanyahu to compel him to implement what was agreed upon.”

Nine Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian media reported.

According to reports, an Israeli drone targeted a gathering of civilians in Beit Lahia twice. 

Among those killed were four journalists covering events and relief efforts in the area. Their bodies were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: The death toll from an Israeli drone strike on Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, has risen to nine. pic.twitter.com/EJfSjOYkAM

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 15, 2025

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has taken a devastating toll on journalists. 

The Forum of Palestinian Journalists also announced on Friday the death of Alaa Hashim, who succumbed to injuries from an earlier Israeli bombardment of Gaza City. 

Her death raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed since October 7, 2023, to 206. 

The organization condemned the continued targeting of journalists and the international failure to protect them, calling for media workers to be allowed to perform their duties under international humanitarian law.

The massacre is part of ongoing ceasefire violations, as Israel continues to delay the implementation of the agreement’s second phase, which was set to begin after the first phase concluded in early March. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is obstructing progress, seeking to prolong the exchange deal to secure the release of more Israeli captives in Gaza while avoiding the military and humanitarian obligations outlined in the agreement.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas has reaffirmed in a statement its commitment to the ceasefire and urged mediators to push for the immediate start of the next phase. Gaza authorities report almost daily violations of the truce by Israel.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel—backed by the US—has waged war on Gaza, killing and injuring more than 160,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, while over 14,000 remain missing.

(PC, AJA, AA)