KHAN YOUNIS (TIP): A heavy strike on January 10 brought down a two-story building in the central city of Deir al-Balah, close to its main Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, killing at least 20 people, according to hospital officials. A strike killed six people in an ambulance near Deir al-Balah, including four crew, a medical aid group said. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said an Israeli strike on an ambulance in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed four medics and two other people inside the vehicle. The organisation said in a statement there were “six martyrs” as a result of “the IDF (Israeli army) targeting of a PRCS ambulance in Deir al-Balah,” adding that four were emergency team members.

The Red Crescent had initially said four people had died but revised the figure, saying “two individuals who were in the ambulance at the time of the targeting sustained injuries and were later martyred”.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident when contacted by AFP.

Jagan Chapagain, the head of the International Federation for Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, called the attack “unacceptable” in a social media post and said, “I strongly condemn their killing.”

He added: “Protection of patients and health care workers is not negotiable. They must never be targeted.”

The Red Crescent said the ambulance had been on Salah al-Din Road, a highway running north-south through the Gaza Strip that has in the past been used by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the Israeli military advance.

Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said multiple people were killed in an Israeli strike near a hospital in Deir al-Balah.

Israel denies bombing Gaza ambulance, killing medics

The Israeli military on Thursday denied it was behind the bombing of an ambulance in the central Gaza Strip a day earlier which killed four medics and two other people.

“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,” the army said in a statement to AFP.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society had said six people were killed Wednesday in an Israeli strike on their ambulance at the entrance to the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza.

The roof of the ambulance was completely destroyed and part of the vehicle was crushed, AFP photos show.

Jagan Chapagain, the head of the International Federation for Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, called the attack “unacceptable” in a social media post and said “I strongly condemn their killing.”

Crowds of mourners gathered Thursday for the funerals of the medics, a shredded and bloodied Palestinian Red Crescent uniform placed atop one of the white shrouds. The Red Crescent said the ambulance had been on Salah al-Din Road, a highway running north-south through the Gaza Strip that has in the past been used by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the Israeli military advance.

(AFP)