Six people, including three members of a Palestinian police bomb disposal unit, were killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday when unexploded Zionist ordnance blew up.

Six people, including three members of a Palestinian police bomb disposal unit, were killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday when unexploded Zionist ordnance blew up, medical officials and police said.

A foreign journalist, who was not immediately identified, was among the dead, the medical officials said.

The explosion occurred in Beit Lahiya, a town in the northern Gaza Strip that had been the scene of fierce bombing by Zionist forces.

In a statement, the Gaza police force said it mourned the deaths of three of its men, identifying them as the head of the local bomb squad, his deputy and another officer. It said an unexploded Zionist shell had detonated.

A three-day ceasefire, in effect since Monday, has given Palestinian bomb disposal experts an opportunity to search for unexploded munitions.