Hamas has claimed scores of Palestinians have been killed and injured after an Israeli missile strike hit an ambulance convoy.
Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV quoted the Gaza health ministry as saying that many were killed on Friday as the vehicles carried critically wounded people in Gaza.
The health ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qudra, earlier said they would send critically injured Palestinians who needed to be urgently transferred for treatment in Egypt from Gaza city and the north to the south.
Incredibly graphic footage circulating online, purportedly showing the aftermath of the strike near Al-Shifa hospital, showed a scene of devastation.
Bodies, particularly of men and boys, are seen strewn across a street in between damaged ambulances. Desperate civilians are seen dragging limp bodies away, some of which leave a trail of blood behind.
An AFP news agency journalist at the scene said they saw multiple bodies beside a damaged ambulance. MailOnline has geo-located the footage to Al-Shifa hospital.
Photos from the scene of the blast appeared to match the footage.
Israel has said it is investigating reports of the strike. The IDF said it was ‘unable to address or confirm specific queries at this time’, when contacted by AFP.
Incredibly graphic footage circulating online, purportedly showing the aftermath of the strike near Al-Shifa hospital, showed a scene of devastation. Pictures from the hospital appeared to match the footage, with desperate civilians carrying the injured away
Palestinians pull an ambulance after a convoy of ambulances was hit, at the entrance of Shifa hospital in Gaza City, November 3
Palestinians check the damage on an ambulance after a convoy of ambulances was hit, at the entrance of Shifa hospital in Gaza City, November 3
Israel, which has accused Hamas of concealing command centres and tunnel entrances in al-Shifa hospital, ordered all civilians to leave the north of Gaza last month and its military encircled the area on Thursday. Hamas and al-Shifa hospital authorities have denied the facility is used as a base by militant fighters.
Al-Qudra said in a statement: ‘We have informed the Red Cross in accordance with the international law about moving a convoy carrying injured people in ambulance vehicles from Al-Shifa hospital.
‘At the gate of the hospital and then at the Ansar square, the occupation targeted the convoy in more than one location outside Al-Shifa hospital.’
The statement made no mention of any casualties.
Al-Shifa hospital is in northern Gaza which has been surrounded by Israeli forces -and near a coastal road – one of the territory’s two key roads running north-south.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society released separate footage showing damaged ambulances. It said an airstrike hit the hospital at 16.30pm local time (1430 GMT).
It said the ambulances had just returned from taking ‘injured individuals to the Rafah border’, which is where a limited number of people have been able to leave Gaza.
Hospital director Muhammad Abu Silmeyeh described the situation as dire.
‘We ran out of medical supplies, we cannot accommodate with the high number of victims and in a few hours time, the generators will come to a stop,’ he told Al Jazeera. ‘The morgue of the hospital is totally packed.
‘We are keeping the dead in our freezer trucks,’ he added.
He said thousands of patients are victims were being cared for at the facility, and that it is now without electricity.
‘If you wish to kill what is left of us, just let us know. If this hospital collapses, the entire health sector will snap,’ he said.
Al-Shifa hospital is facing severe overcrowding, with a bed occupancy rate of 164 percent according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Incredibly graphic footage circulating online, purportedly showing the aftermath of the strike near Al-Shifa hospital, showed a scene of devastation. In the clip, a man could be seen outside the hospital reacting in horror to the scenes outside
Hamas has claimed scores of Palestinians have been killed and injured after an Israeli missile strike hit an ambulance convoy. Pictured: Smoke rises over Gaza City on November 3
Some 16 hospitals across Gaza are no longer functioning because of damage from strikes and a lack of fuel, the health ministry said.
The WHO warned Wednesday that the fuel shortage “immediately risks the lives” of the wounded and other patients.
More than 23,500 people have been wounded across Gaza in four weeks of war, the health ministry said, while the death toll has surpassed 9,200.
Around 1,400 people were killed in attacks by Hamas militants in Israel on October 7, sparking the war.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow…
