GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Gaza's civil defence agency and a hospital said an Israeli airstrike targeting a minibus killed five people on Wednesday in a neighbourhood southwest of the city.

 

Mahmoud Bassal, the spokesperson for the civil defence which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, told AFP there were "five martyrs and 20 wounded, including a number of children and women... as a result of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a passenger bus in Tel Al Hawa".

 

Bassal said the bus was carrying civilians between Gaza City and the central and southern parts of the Palestinian territory.

 

He said it was hit "by two missiles fired by Israeli drones, which led to the destruction of its front and completely burned it".

 

AFP has contacted the Israeli military for a response.

 

Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital confirmed that five bodies and several wounded people had arrived at the medical facility "following an Israeli airstrike that targeted a vehicle near the destroyed cabinet headquarters in the Tel Al Hawa neighbourhood".

 

The massive Israeli offensive has left most of Gaza in ruins and killed more than 74,000 people, according to Gaza's health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

 

Israeli forces have killed more than 1,400 people since a ceasefire was announced last October, according to Gaza's health ministry.

 

The Israeli military has identified five deaths in its ranks over the same period, as well as the death of one civilian contractor.