Israeli Military Fires On Vehicle, Saying It Crossed Cease-Fire Lines

The Israeli military said it fired on a vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday after it crossed a demarcation line where Israel’s forces have withdrawn to since last week’s cease-fire came into effect.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense emergency service, said at least nine people had been killed. The agency, part of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said rescue workers had reached the scene on Saturday after coordinating their movements with the United Nations.

The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas stipulated that Israeli forces withdraw to an agreed-upon “Yellow Line” within Gaza. The Israeli military still controls about 53 percent of the enclave’s territory, and its troops are deployed across large parts of it.

The military said in a statement that Israeli troops first fired warning shots at what it described as a “suspicious vehicle,” before opening fire “to remove the threat.”

Mr. Basal said the vehicle’s passengers were displaced people who had been traveling in a small bus that had crossed the Israeli withdrawal line. It was unclear whether they had intended to cross that line.

The Israeli military often publishes warnings about areas in Gaza that civilians should not approach, saying that the military is deployed there. But many Gazans — either lacking internet, puzzling over unclear maps, or simply lost in the devastated enclave — have at times been unsure whether they have entered a restricted area.

On Friday, the office of the Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said he had ordered that the withdrawal lines be physically demarcated on the ground. The markings, the office said in a statement, would “warn Hamas terrorists and Gaza residents that any violation and attempt to cross the line will be met with fire.”

The cease-fire agreement, which the United States helped to broker, has yet to decisively end the conflict. And though the fighting in Gaza has largely stopped, Israeli troops have occasionally attacked what they say are imminent threats.

As part of the truce, Hamas has freed 20 living Israeli hostages and turned over the bodies of 10 others. Israel has freed almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and sent the bodies of more than 100 Palestinians to Gaza.

On Saturday, the Israeli government said Hamas had handed over the body of Eliyahu Margalit overnight. Mr. Margalit, 75, was killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war in Gaza, and Palestinian militants brought his body back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli officials have criticized Hamas for not handing over the remaining 18 bodies still in Gaza. Hamas said on Wednesday that it had delivered all of the remains in its possession, and that finding the others would take more time and effort because of the devastation in Gaza.