Israeli fire strikes journalists and children on one of Gaza's deadliest
days since ceasefire
[January 22, 2026]
By SAMY MAGDY
CAIRO (AP) — Israeli forces on Wednesday killed at least 11 Palestinians
in Gaza, including two 13-year-old boys, three journalists and a woman,
hospitals said, on one of the war-battered enclave 's deadliest days
since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in October.
The United States is trying to push the deal forward and implement its
challenging second phase.
Among the dead were three Palestinian journalists who were killed while
filming near a displacement camp in central Gaza, a camp official said.
Israel's military said it had spotted suspects who were operating a
drone that posed a threat to its troops.
The two boys were killed in separate incidents. In one, a 13-year-old,
his father and a 22-year old man were hit by Israeli drones on the
eastern side of the Bureij refugee camp, according to officials from Al-Aqsa
Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, which received
the bodies.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the three had crossed into
Israeli-controlled areas.
A mounting death toll
The other 13-year-old was shot by troops in the eastern town of Bani
Suheila, Nasser Hospital said after receiving the body. In a video
circulated online, the father of Moatsem al-Sharafy is seen weeping over
it.
The boy’s mother, Safaa al-Sharafy, told The Associated Press that he
had left to gather firewood so she could cook.
“He went out in the morning, hungry,” she said, tears running down her
cheeks. “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 filming 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 about 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 by the roadside.
One journalist killed, Abdul Raouf Shaat, was a regular contributor to
Agence France-Presse but he was not on assignment for it 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 that
demanded a full investigation into his death.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 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.
Nearly five months after the strikes on a hospital that killed Dagga and
four other journalists, the Israeli military says it is continuing to
investigate.
Aside from rare guided tours, Israel has barred international
journalists from entering to cover the war. News organizations rely
largely on Palestinian journalists in Gaza — as well as residents — to
show what is happening.
Nasser Hospital officials also said Wednesday they received the body of
a Palestinian woman shot by Israeli troops in the Muwasi area of the
southern city of Khan Younis, which is not controlled by the military.
In a separate attack, three brothers were killed in a tank shelling in
the Bureij camp, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital.
[to top of second column]
|
Najwa Al-Rajoudi mourns over the body of her nephew Moussa Al-Rajoudi
before his funeral at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central
Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, after he was killed by Israeli
fire. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
More than 470 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since
the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, according to Gaza's health
ministry. At least 77 have been killed by Israeli gunfire near a
ceasefire line that splits the territory between Israeli-held areas
and most of Gaza’s Palestinian population, the ministry says.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains
detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by
U.N. agencies and independent experts.
A mother's plea
The first phase of the October ceasefire that paused two years of
war between Israel and Hamas militants focused 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
started the war.
His relatives on Wednesday called again 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.
Israel targets more sites in Lebanon
Israel’s air force carried out multiple strikes Wednesday against
sites in southern Lebanon that it said the militant Hezbollah group
used to store weapons, and at sites along Lebanon’s border with
Syria where it said weapons were being smuggled.
The military said it struck four border crossings in Lebanon’s
northeastern region of Hermel.
Earlier, strikes in three villages in southern Lebanon targeted
weapons storage facilities. Israel's military said it had issued
warnings to evacuate. Lebanon’s health ministry said 19 people,
including journalists, were wounded in the southern village of
Qennarit, south of the port city of Sidon.
Lebanese officials condemned the strikes in southern Lebanon, which
President Joseph Aoun called “systematic aggression.”
In addition, drone strikes on cars in the villages of Bazouriyeh and
Zahrani killed two people, according to state-run National News
Agency.
The strikes were the latest in near-daily Israeli military action
since a ceasefire more than a year ago ended the 14-month
Israel-Hezbollah war. The agreement included a Lebanese pledge to
disarm militant groups, which Israel says has not been fulfilled.
___
Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this
report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
