An Israeli airstrike on ambulances used to evacuate the wounded from the besieged northern Gaza Strip on Friday killed 15 people and wounded 60, the health ministry of the Hamas-controlled enclave said.
The Israeli military said it had identified and hit an ambulance “used by a terrorist cell of Hamas.” It claimed that Hamas fighters were killed in the attack and accused the group of transferring militants and weapons in ambulances.
Hamas official Izat El Reshik said the allegations of the presence of its fighters were “baseless”. Ashraf al-Kidra, spokesman for Gaza’s health ministry, said the ambulance was part of a convoy targeted by Israel near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Kidra said Israel targeted the convoy of ambulances at more than one location, including the gates of al-Shifa Hospital and Ansar Square a kilometer away.
In a statement on the incident, the Israeli military did not provide any evidence to support the claim that the ambulance was linked to Hamas, but said it intended to release more information.
“We emphasize that this area is a combat zone. Civilians in the area are constantly being urged to evacuate to the south for their own safety,” the military said.
Reuters was unable to independently verify either party’s allegations.
Video shared on social media shows people lying in blood next to ambulances with flashing lights on a city street as people rush to help.
In the second video, three ambulances are shown standing in a row, with ten people motionless or barely moving next to them.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post that he was “completely shocked by reports of attacks on ambulances evacuating patients”, adding that patients, health workers and medical facilities must be protected.
Earlier on Friday, it was announced that ambulances will transport critically injured Palestinians who need to be rushed to Egypt for treatment from besieged Gaza City to the enclave’s south.
Israel, which has accused Hamas of hiding command centers and tunnel entrances at al-Shifa hospital, ordered all civilians to leave northern Gaza in October, and its army surrounded the area on Thursday.
Despite the order for civilians to leave the northern areas of Gaza, the Israeli army continued to bombard the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas and the leadership of al-Shifa Hospital have denied that the facility is being used as a base for militants, Hina reports.
