Gaza civil defence says 9 killed after Israeli forces fired at bus

Gaza’s civil defence company mentioned that Israeli forces killed 9 members of a single Palestinian household after they fired on a bus on Friday (October 17, 2025), after the navy confirmed it had focused a car 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 company, which operates below Hamas authority, advised AFP on Saturday (October 18).

Mr. Bassal mentioned the victims had been members of the Abu Shabaan household and had been killed whereas “trying to check on their home” within the Zeitun neighbourhood.

Crossing the “yellow line”

The Israeli navy mentioned a car had been recognized crossing the “yellow line”, the boundary behind which Israeli troops are stationed below the ceasefire settlement 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 navy mentioned in an announcement.

“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, however a number of incidents have been reported because it started, with the navy saying its troops fired at people who approached or crossed the “yellow line”.

Hundreds of 1000’s of Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza looking for their properties because the ceasefire started, usually struggling to search out them amid the huge devastation left by greater than two years of conflict.

Several Gazans who spoke to AFP mentioned they had been unable to find their homes — and even acquainted landmarks — in neighbourhoods now buried below the rubble of collapsed buildings and particles.