Medics, ambulances in Gaza continue to come under Israeli fire

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - Palestinian medics and ambulances continue to come under fire amid the Israeli military's onslaught on Gaza.

Nearly 200 medical staff have been killed in Israeli bombings since Oct. 7 and dozens of ambulances have been damaged, according to official statements.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society, which runs the ambulance service in Gaza, spoke of the hardships that ambulance crews go through at a press briefing Wednesday.

It cited an Israeli violation against ambulance crews on Nov. 3 while they were attempting to evacuate injured Palestinians and collect the bodies of those killed by the Israeli army from streets.

The Red Crescent’s ambulance service director Mohammad Abu Msbeh said his teams received a notification that bodies were on Al-Rashid Street on Gaza's coast.

He said three ambulances were dispatched to the area and found 10 bodies and two people who were wounded.

After an ambulance collected one body, the Israeli army opened fire on its crew, wounding some of them.

Abu Msbeh noted that Israeli troops intended to kill them as some of the medics sustained chest wounds and bullet holes were discovered in the ambulance’s doors.

He added that the crews helped each other and immediately left the scene but did not know what happened to the two wounded individuals.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian resistance group Hamas initiated a cross-border attack on Oct. 7.​​​​​​​

At least 10,569 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,324 children and 2,823 women.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.