DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
The Palestinian Health Ministry says several people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli attack on an ambulance convoy.
Several people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli attack on an ambulance convoy near al-Shifa hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Health Ministry said Friday that “several citizens were killed and dozens of others injured in an Israeli strike at the entrance to al-Shifa hospital” in Gaza City.
An ambulance convoy was transporting seriously injured patients from al-Shifa Hospital to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt when it was targeted by an Israeli attack, said Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
“We informed the Red Cross and Red Crescent, we informed the whole world that these victims were lined up in these ambulances,” he said.
“It was a medical convoy.”
The Israeli military said it was studying the report.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said one of its ambulances was targeted in the attack near al-Shifa. “The staff are safe,” he said.
Palestinian Red Crescent spokesman Mohamed Abu Musbah said the area where the ambulance was hit was “extremely populated” with civilians.
Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, faces severe overcrowding, with a bed occupancy rate of 164%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), amid bombings and blockades continuous territory by Israel.
At least 16 hospitals across Gaza are no longer functioning due to bombing damage and lack of fuel, the Health Ministry said.
The WHO warned Wednesday that the fuel shortage “is immediately endangering the lives” of the injured and other patients.
More than 9,200 people have been killed and 23,500 injured in Gaza since Israel launched a bombardment of the territory on October 7, according to Palestinian authorities.
The Israeli attack on Gaza came after Hamas fighters killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in an attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli officials.
This is a developing story. More soon.