AP video journalist among five killed in Gaza blast
A video journalist working for the Associated Press and four others were killed in a blast which occurred as explosives experts were trying to dismantle an unexploded Israeli missile in Beit Lahiya.
Israel and Hamas militants are observing a 72-hour truce
An Italian cameraman working for international news agency Associated Press was among at least five people killed in northern Gaza as bomb disposal experts were dismantling unexploded munitions.
Gaza's interior ministry said all five had been killed in a blast which occurred as explosives experts were trying to dismantle an unexploded Israeli missile in Beit Lahiya.
Another six people were seriously wounded, medics said.
The AP confirmed that one of its journalists and a freelance Palestinian translator had been killed, identifying them as Simone Camilli, a 35-year-old cameraman from Italy, and Ali Shehda Abu Afash, 36.
Besides his work as a translator, Abu Afash also worked part-time as an administrative assistant with the Gaza bureau of Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Camilli had worked for The Associated Press since 2005.
He is the first foreign journalist to be killed in more than a month of bloodshed between Israel and Hamas militants which began on 8 July.
The two were at the scene with AP photographer Hatem Moussa to cover the story of bomb experts dismantling unexploded ordnance, the agency said. Moussa was badly wounded in the blast.
In Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini issued a statement expressing sorrow at Camilli's death.
"Simone Camilli's death is a tragedy for his family and for the country. Once more a reporter pays the price for a war that has lasted too many years," she said.
The blast occurred as Israel and Hamas militants were observing a 72-hour truce which expires at midnight local time (10pm Irish time) as negotiators in Cairo tried to thrash out a more permanent ceasefire arrangement.
