Gaza civil defence says nine killed after Israeli forces fired at bus

Gaza’s civil defence agency said that Israeli forces killed nine members of a single Palestinian family when they fired on a bus on Friday (October 17, 2025), after the military confirmed it had targeted a vehicle that crossed the so-called “yellow line”.

“Civil defence crews were able to recover nine bodies following the Israeli occupation’s targeting of a bus carrying displaced persons east of the Zeitun neighbourhood yesterday,” Mahmud Bassal, a spokesperson for the agency, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP on Saturday (October 18).

Mr. Bassal said the victims were members of the Abu Shabaan family and were killed while “trying to check on their home” in the Zeitun neighbourhood.

Crossing the “yellow line”

The Israeli military said a vehicle had been identified crossing the “yellow line”, the boundary behind which Israeli troops are stationed under the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

“The troops fired warning shots toward the suspicious vehicle, but the vehicle continued to approach the troops in a way that caused an imminent threat to them,” the military said in a statement.

“The troops opened fire to remove the threat, in accordance with the agreement.”

The ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas is now in its second week, but several incidents have been reported since it began, with the military saying its troops fired at individuals who approached or crossed the “yellow line”.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza in search of their homes since the ceasefire began, often struggling to find them amid the vast devastation left by more than two years of war.

Several Gazans who spoke to AFP said they were unable to locate their houses — or even familiar landmarks — in neighbourhoods now buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and debris.