Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said the vehicle was carrying 11 members of a family, including seven children and two women, when it was targeted by the army in the Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City. The attack occurred as the family attempted to check on their home after crossing what is known as the "yellow line."
The Civil Defense confirmed that the attack was carried out without prior warning and could have been avoided or dealt with in a manner that would have avoided the killing. It added, "What happened confirms that the occupation is still thirsty for blood and determined to commit crimes against innocent civilians."
For its part, Hamas said in a statement that "the massacre comes in the context of the occupation's ongoing violations of the recently reached ceasefire agreement, as the Zionist enemy continues to carry out its attacks and crimes against our people, in flagrant violation of all obligations stipulated in the agreement, which confirms its aggressive intentions."
The movement called on US President Donald Trump and the mediators to "monitor the criminal occupation's violations and fulfill their role in compelling it to respect the ceasefire agreement and stop targeting our people and endangering their lives."
The agreement entered into force on October 10, under regional and international sponsorship, in accordance with the "Trump Plan." It stipulates a partial withdrawal of the Israeli army to positions inside the Gaza Strip known as the "Yellow Line."
In a related development, the Civil Defense in Gaza announced that it had recovered the bodies of 280 Palestinians from under the rubble since the ceasefire took effect, while approximately 10,000 others remain missing under the rubble for two years, as a result of the destruction of thousands of homes during the Israeli war that began on October 7, 2023.
Basal explained that civil defense teams are operating under "extremely difficult" conditions, using primitive tools amid a severe shortage of equipment and fuel. He called for "urgent international intervention to enable crews to complete their tasks and end the humanitarian suffering of the Gaza Strip's residents."
The spokesman criticized what he described as "international double standards," saying, "The international community is keen to recover the bodies of Israeli prisoners, while ignoring the suffering of thousands of Palestinian martyrs who have remained under the rubble for two years."
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the two-year Israeli war has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and injured approximately 170,000 others, most of them women and children.
