Tel Aviv [Israel]: Israel claimed responsibility for the attack on an ambulance outside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital which killed several people and left dozens more wounded, CNN reported on Friday.
Israel said that it had targeted the ambulance because it was being used by Hamas, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Notably, at least 15 people were killed and 50 others were wounded in the attack on the largest medical facility in the enclave, CNN reported citing the Hamas-run health authorities.
According to the footage from the scene, at least a dozen bloodied casualties can be seen strewn across the ground near an ambulance.
“A Hamas terrorist cell was identified using an ambulance. In response, an IDF aircraft struck and neutralized the Hamas terrorists, who were operating within the ambulance. We emphasize that this area in Gaza is a war zone. Civilians are repeatedly called upon to evacuate southward for their own safety,” IDF on X (formerly on Twitter).
IDF said in a statement that a number of Hamas terrorist operatives were killed in the strike.
“We have information which demonstrates that Hamas’ method of operation is to transfer terror operatives and weapons in ambulances,” CNN quoted the statement.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, who was at Al-Shifa Hospital, said that Israel was responsible for the attack.
Al-Qidra said that authorities had organized a medical convoy from the hospital and had informed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about the move.
He further said the convoy was traveling to the Rafah Crossing – the border in the south of the besieged enclave has been seen as the last hope for Gazans to escape as Israel’s bombs rain down on the strip.
“When the ambulances moved towards the south, the occupation targeted the ambulances in multiple locations, including on the gate of Al-Shifa medical compound,” CNN quoted Al-Qidra as saying.
“The Israeli occupation targeted those ambulances intentionally,” he added.
Meanwhile, Al-Shifa Hospital has increasingly found itself part of the frontline as Israel claimed the facility as the site of a “significant Hamas command and control center”, CNN reported.
Also, it is located in one of the most densely populated areas on earth, the 140-square-mile Gaza Strip, which is being pounded and encircled by the Israeli military.
Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, director of the hospitals in Gaza, said in a statement that the medical staff at Al-Shifa are exhausted, and low fuel stocks have plunged wards into darkness, cutting off basic functions like oxygen generation. Only one operating theater, the emergency department, and the intensive care unit (ICU) continue to function.
The doctors at Al Shifa said that they are seeing children with the majority of their body and faces burned, missing limbs and other “catastrophic injuries,” CNN reported.
“Doctors are also having to treat patients with limited pain control as they are “running out of anaesthetic drugs,” said Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan. “We do not have enough antibiotics to treat wound infections, we don’t have enough dressings.”
