Israel has taken credit for an attack that occurred outside of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital and is reported to have killed 15 people and injured 50 more, according to Hamas-run health officials.
At least 12 bleeding victims can be seen scattered over the ground next to an ambulance in some of the scene’s videos. One or more of the cars at the site look to have some shrapnel damage.
Israel said in a press release that it attacked the ambulance because Hamas was using it. The ambulance was moving in a medical caravan from the hospital to the Rafah border crossing, according to a representative for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Friday. The ambulance had alerted the International Committee of the Red Cross about the transfer.
In a statement, the ICRC acknowledged that while it was not a part of the planned convoy of cars transporting patients with injuries from northern Gaza to the southern half of the territory, it was aware of its existence. The convoy included one of the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s ambulances, which was damaged by firing, but fortunately, none of its members were hurt.
The attack occurred after Gazans witnessed yet another night of intense aircraft bombardment, with explosions and lights lighting up the northern sky.
Satellite data and footage from open and government sources indicate that Israeli ground forces are beginning to close in on Gaza City, the largest and most densely populated population center in the Palestinian enclave. Additionally, on Friday night, at least two rockets were observed striking directly in the Israeli city of Sderot; one of them hit a kindergarten’s courtyard. A number of adjacent cars and the building’s windows were struck by shrapnel. There were no confirmed deaths.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his third visit to Israel following the Hamas attack on October 7. While there, he had meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials. Blinken remarked at a press conference that while we denounce Hamas, we also need to do more to safeguard Palestinian civilians.
According to Blinken, humanitarian pauses would help the US in its efforts to get assistance into the country and captives out. Additionally, he added that the US and Israel had “described ways” to supply Gaza’s hospitals with much-needed gasoline.
However, Netanyahu stated on Friday that his government is opposed to any interim truce in Gaza unless Hamas releases all captives it possesses and that his government would continue to prohibit gasoline in Gaza. According to the Israeli military, 241 captives are thought to have been abducted by Hamas on October 7.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah called for a truce and hailed Hamas’ October 7 strikes on Israel in his first public statement since 2006. His statement came amid rising clashes between his strong, Iran-backed armed force and Israel, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.
The relatives of the 11 fatalities of the October 7 Hamas assault have charged the perpetrators of “acts against mankind” in a case filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC). The case involves 11 individuals who were murdered or wounded within Israeli territory. Several of them had attended the Nova music festival when Hamas militants massacred over 260 people.
In view of an uptick in antisemitic acts and assaults in recent weeks, the Israeli government is advising its people to reconsider overseas travel and exercise caution while abroad. Antisemitism has reached “historic levels” in America, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
UN Secretary Was Frightened by Israel’s Raid
According to a UN statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was frightened by Israel’s raid on an entourage of ambulances in Gaza.
According to Hamas-run health officials, the hit near Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the enclave’s main medical institution, killed at least 15 people and injured 50 others on Friday.
Guterres stated in a statement, I am shocked by the alleged assault in Gaza on an ambulance caravan outside Al-Shifa hospital. He noted that the photographs of the dead sprawled on the roadway outside the hospital are distressing.
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