Journalists die as Israel targets their van

Five Palestinian journalists have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on their vehicle in central Gaza, their employer has said.

- Bethan McKernan

Israel also struck several areas in Houthi rebel-controlled Yemen in air raids yesterday.

Faisal Abu al-Qumsan, Ayman al-Jadi, Ibrahim al-Sheikh Khalil, Fadi Hassouna and Mohammed al-Lada'a were sleeping in their broadcasting truck, marked as press, when it was targeted in a direct strike by the Israeli military, witnesses told Palestinian media. Another 32 people were killed in other Israeli pre-dawn strikes across the territory, the local health ministry said.

The five men, who worked at Al-Quds Today, a television channel affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group that fights alongside Hamas, were buried yesterday morning.

Israel's military said in a statement it had conducted "a precise strike on a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the area of Nuseirat. Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians." It also claimed responsibility for at least five airstrikes that hit what it said were military targets in Yemen, most of which is controlled by the Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah, backed by Iran.

Ports, power stations and Sana'a international airport were among the targets struck yesterday afternoon. The extent of casualties was not immediately clear.