People carry a bag containing the bodies of the Palestinian journalists Abd Shaat and Mohamed Qeshta, who were killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle, before their funeral at Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
Jehad Alshrafi/AP
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Jehad Alshrafi/AP
CAIRO — At least 11 Palestinians, including two 13-year-old boys, three journalists and a woman, were killed Wednesday in Gaza by Israeli forces, marking one of the deadliest days in the war-battered enclave since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in October. It’s a grim reminder that even with a pause in major fighting, the situation remains incredibly fragile.
The United States is currently working to advance the deal and implement its next, challenging phase.
Among those killed Wednesday were three Palestinian journalists who were fatally shot while filming near a displacement camp in central Gaza, according to a camp official. The Israeli military stated it had identified suspects operating a drone that posed a threat to its troops.
The two 13-year-old boys were killed in separate incidents. In one, a boy, his father and a 22-year-old man were struck by Israeli drones on the eastern side of the Bureij refugee camp, officials from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah reported. It wasn’t immediately clear if the three had crossed into areas controlled by Israel.
The other 13-year-old was shot by troops in Bani Suheila, Nasser Hospital said after receiving the body. A circulating video showed the boy’s father weeping over his son.
Safaa al-Sharafy, the boy’s mother, told The Associated Press that her son had left to gather firewood so she could cook.
“He went out in the morning, hungry,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “He told me he’d go quickly and come back.”
Later Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit a vehicle carrying the three Palestinian journalists who were documenting a new displacement camp managed by an Egyptian government committee in the Netzarim area, said Mohammed Mansour, the committee’s spokesperson.
Mansour said the journalists were documenting the committee’s work and that the strike occurred approximately 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli-controlled area. He said the vehicle was known to Israel’s military as belonging to the committee. Video footage showed the charred and smoking vehicle.
Abdul Raouf Shaat, one of the journalists killed, was a regular contributor to Agence France-Presse but was not on assignment for the agency at the time, the news agency said.
“Abdul was much loved by the AFP team covering Gaza. They remember him as a kind-hearted colleague,” the agency said in a statement, demanding a full investigation into his death.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that more than 200 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the war began in 2023, including visual journalist Mariam Dagga, who worked for the AP and other news organizations.
The Israeli military says it is continuing to investigate the strikes on a hospital nearly five months ago that killed Dagga and four other journalists.
Israel has largely barred international journalists from entering to cover the war, relying heavily on Palestinian journalists in Gaza—and residents—to report on the situation.
Nasser Hospital officials also said Wednesday they received the body of a Palestinian woman shot by Israeli troops in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, which is not under military control.
In a separate attack, three brothers were killed in a tank shelling in the Bureij camp, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital.
Gaza’s health ministry reported that more than 470 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. At least 77 have been killed by Israeli gunfire near a ceasefire line dividing Israeli-held areas and most of Gaza’s Palestinian population.
The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records considered generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
A mother’s plea
The first phase of the October ceasefire paused two years of war between Israel and Hamas militants, focusing on the return of all remaining hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza.
All but one hostage, living or dead, have been returned to Israel. Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer known as Rani, was killed while fighting Hamas militants during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that initiated the war.
His relatives on Wednesday again called on Israel’s government and U.S. President Donald Trump to ensure the release of his remains.
“We need to continue to amplify Rani’s voice, explain about him, talk about him, and explain to the world that we, the people of Israel, will not give up on anyone,” his mother, Talik Gvili, said. She told the AP the family doesn’t “really know where he is.”
Hamas said Wednesday it has provided “all information” it has on Gvili’s body to the ceasefire mediators, and accused Israel of obstructing search efforts in areas it controls in Gaza.
