The three photojournalists killed on Wednesday were reportedly working for the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip to film its camps for displaced people.
A spokesperson for the humanitarian organisation said the car that was struck was marked with its logo and that it was “targeted during a humanitarian mission, resulting in the martyrdom of three individuals”.
Hamas called the strike a “dangerous escalation of the flagrant violations of the ceasefire agreement”.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said it constituted a war crime and evidence of what it called “a systematic Israeli policy aimed at silencing the Palestinian voice, obstructing the transmission of facts, and concealing crimes committed against civilians”, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Abdul Raouf Shaat was regular contributor to French news agency AFP, which expressed “immense sadness” at his death and demanded a “full and transparent investigation”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also said it was “appalled”.
“Israel, which possesses advanced technology capable of identifying its targets, has an obligation under international law to protect journalists,” regional director Sara Qudah said.
The CPJ has documented the killing of at least 206 journalists and media workers by Israeli fire in Gaza since the start of the war – the deadliest conflict for journalists ever documented.
Before Wednesday, two journalists had been killed in Israeli strikes during the ceasefire, and a third had been killed by members of a Palestinian armed group, according to the US-based organisation’s data.
International news outlets, including the BBC, rely on local journalists in Gaza, as Israel does not allow them to send foreign journalists into the territory independently. Some journalists are taken into Gaza by the Israeli military under controlled access.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Israel responded to the attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 71,550 people have been killed, according to the territory’s health ministry.