Witnesses said the people were in a car and on a mission for a charity in Beit Lahiya, and they were accompanied by journalists and photographers when the strike hit them.

The move came hours after Israel had proposed a temporary extension of the truce, though one with terms that Hamas is unlikely to accept.

Israeli fire has killed eight people in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours even as a fragile ceasefire with Hamas has largely held.

At least five Palestinians were killed after the Israeli military launched renewed attacks in Gaza City, in its latest violation of the ceasefire. A medical worker at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of four Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli drone strike on the Zeitoun neighbourhood,