Israeli military denies bombing Gaza ambulance, despite six casualties including medics
The Israeli military refuted allegations on Thursday that it had targeted an ambulance in the central Gaza Strip a day earlier, resulting in the deaths of four medics and two other individuals.
In a statement to AFP, the army asserted, “A review was conducted based on the details provided to the IDF (Israeli military), which shows that no strike was carried out in the described area.”
Contrary to the military’s denial, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that six people, including medics, were killed in an Israeli strike on their ambulance at the entrance to the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza. Photographs from AFP depicted the complete destruction of the ambulance’s roof and significant damage to the vehicle.
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Jagan Chapagain, the head of the International Federation for Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, expressed his condemnation of the attack as “unacceptable” in a social media post and denounced the killing of the medics.
Funerals for the medics took place on Thursday, with mourners gathering as white shrouds covered their remains, topped by a shredded and bloodied Palestinian Red Crescent uniform.
The Red Crescent stated that the ambulance had been on Salah al-Din Road, a crucial highway in the Gaza Strip that had been used by Palestinians fleeing Israeli military advances.
Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported multiple casualties in an Israeli strike near a hospital in Deir al-Balah.
As the conflict persists, with over 23,350 casualties, mostly civilians, the health ministry noted that more than 120 ambulances had been destroyed, and at least 326 healthcare workers killed since the start of the conflict. The Israeli military reported 186 soldiers killed in the fighting in Gaza.
