Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

Israeli fire killed 11 Palestinians including two boys and three journalists in separate incidents in Gaza on Wednesday, local medics said, in the latest violence to undermine a three-month-old ceasefire in the war-shattered enclave.

Palestinian health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinian journalists travelling in a car on assignment to film a displaced persons camp in central Gaza.

In another incident, medics said three people, including a 10-year-old boy, were killed by Israeli tank shelling in central Gaza. Two others, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed in two Israeli shooting incidents in Khan Younis in the south, medics said.

A further three Palestinians were killed in other Israeli attacks across Gaza, bringing the day's death toll to at least 11, the Gaza health ministry said.

In a statement, the civil defence said three journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City, naming the dead as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim, AFP reported.

Journalist Abdul Raouf Shaat, who once decried the targeting of reporters, was himself killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

He died alongside Muhammad Salah Qeshta and Anas Ghoneim when an Israeli airstrike hit their vehicle.

The three were filming for the Egyptian Committee, highlighting the ongoing dangers faced by journalists.

The World Health Organisation evacuated 21 patients and their attendants to Jordan on Monday, said a UN official. 

With over 18,000 patients still awaiting evacuation, WHO has urged more states to help, calling on Israel to reopen access to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Read the UN report here.

Italy needs more time to decide whether to join US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" because parts of its statute appear incompatible with the constitution, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday.

"This does not allow us to sign tomorrow for sure, but we need more time. There is work that needs to be done. However, my position certainly remains one of openness," Meloni told state broadcaster RAI.

Earlier on Wednesday, daily Corriere della Sera said Italy would not take part, citing concerns that joining a body led by a single foreign leader would breach constitutional rules requiring Rome to engage only in organisations where it enjoys equal terms with other states.

Diplomats have also warned the project could undermine the role of the United Nations. "There is a doubt about this, a doubt that I’ve read about," Meloni said.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it should be known within three weeks whether Hamas will agree to give up its weapons, and threatened action if the group does not.

"That's what they agreed to. They've got to do it. And we're going to know ... over the next two or three days — certainly over the next three weeks — whether or not they're going to do it," Trump said in a question and answer session following his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"If they don't do it, they'll be blown away very quickly. They'll be blown away."

Pope Leo is among world leaders invited to join US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace", Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, said on Wednesday.

Leo, the first US pope and a critic of some of Trump's policies, is evaluating the invitation, he said.

"The pope has received an invitation and we are considering what to do," Parolin told journalists. "I believe it will be something that requires a bit of time for consideration before giving a response."

Israeli fire killed 11 Palestinians, including two boys and three journalists, in Gaza on Wednesday, said local medics.

In the latest violence disrupting a brittle, three-month-old ceasefire, Palestinian health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinian journalists travelling in a car in the central Gaza Strip.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace (BoP), the Foreign Office announced on Wednesday, as Islamabad aims to contribute to stability in Gaza.

The decision has been taken as part of Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to support the implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan under the framework of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803, the statement issued by the FO.

Read complete story here.

Israeli fire killed 11 Palestinians, including two boys and three journalists, in Gaza on Wednesday, local medics said, and the Israeli military said it had "eliminated" a Palestinian militant who posed a threat to soldiers.

In the latest violence disrupting a brittle, three-month-old ceasefire, Palestinian health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinian journalists travelling in a car in the central Gaza Strip.

The three were on an assignment sponsored by the Egyptian Committee, which supervises Egypt's relief work in Gaza, to film tent encampments built by Egypt for displaced Palestinians, other local journalists told Reuters.

An Egyptian security source confirmed the vehicle belonged to the committee but gave no further details. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel and Hamas have traded blame for multiple breaches of the October truce after two years of war that devastated Gaza and caused a humanitarian disaster, and remain at odds over the next steps in U.S. President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation to join US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace", Netanyahu's office said Wednesday.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that he has accepted US President Donald Trump's invitation and will join as a member of the Board of Peace, which will be composed of leaders of the world," the office said in a statement.

The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of post-war Gaza, but its charter, as seen by AFP, does not appear to limit its role to the Palestinian territory, and members have to pay up to $1 billion for a permanent spot on it.