At least nine people have been killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, the enclave’s Government Media Office said Saturday, making it the deadliest incident since a ceasefire went into effect in January.

An Israeli air strike killed four Palestinians in Gaza, the territory's civil emergency service said, as Arab mediators and the United States tried to hammer out differences between Hamas and Israel over a January 19 ceasefire agreement.

On Monday afternoon, two friends, Khaled al-Shaer, 60, and Musa Qishta, 59, were walking toward their destroyed homes in the city of Rafah near the Egyptian border with Gaza. They had gone out for a stroll to pass the time until that day’s Ramadan fast ended at sunset.