Key Points
- Israel said its aircraft hit a Gaza ambulance being used by Hamas, which denied the claim and said 15 people were killed.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian and Palestinian leaders in Jordan.
- Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader warned US and Israel of broader war in an overnight speech.
Gaza health officials said 15 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on an ambulance that the military said targeted Hamas militants, and Washington’s top diplomat was due to hear Arab demands for a ceasefire in a meeting on Saturday in Jordan.
The Israeli strike hit an ambulance that was part of a convoy carrying injured Palestinians at Gaza’s biggest hospital, al-Shifa, health officials in the Hamas-run enclave said on Friday.
“Upon their arrival to al-Shifa, (Israel) directly targeted the convoy’s second vehicle, committing a terrible massacre that claimed the lives of 15 (people) and wounded more than 60,” health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said.
Israel’s military said it had identified and hit an ambulance “being used by a Hamas terrorist cell” in the battle zone, and that a number of Hamas fighters were killed.
“We emphasise that this area is a battle zone. Civilians in the area are repeatedly called upon to evacuate southwards for their own safety,” the military said.
Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq said allegations its fighters were present were “baseless”. The military gave no evidence to support its assertion that the ambulance was linked to Hamas but said it intended to release additional information.
Reuters was unable to independently verify accounts from either side.
World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post he was “utterly shocked by reports of attacks on ambulances evacuating patients,” adding that patients, health workers and medical facilities must be protected.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since , according to the Israeli government, and over 200 hostages taken. More than 9,200 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
, which has gained power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006. Its stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. New Zealand and Paraguay list only its military wing as a terrorist group. In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly voted against a resolution condemning Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation.
Israel last month ordered all civilians to leave the northern part of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, and head to the south of the enclave, which it has also continued to bomb.
. Food is scarce, residents have resorted to drinking salty water and medical services are collapsing.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA estimates that nearly 1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are internally displaced.
Netanyahu rejects calls for temporary ceasefire
On a visit to the region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and called for a humanitarian pause in fighting that he said would facilitate work to release hostages while enabling Israel to defeat Hamas.
In a televised address, Netanyahu rejected the idea of a pause unless hostages are freed.
“I made clear that we are continuing full force and that Israel refuses a temporary ceasefire which does not include the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
Blinken on Saturday will meet with the Saudi, Qatari, Emirati and Egyptian foreign ministers as well as Palestinian representatives in Amman, the Jordanian foreign ministry said.
The Arab leaders will stress the “Arab stance calling for an immediate ceasefire, delivering humanitarian aid and ways of ending the dangerous deterioration that threatens the security of the region”, the ministry said in a statement.
Jordan is a staunch US ally and shares a border with the West Bank and Israel. Concerned about potential for a wider conflict, Amman has boosted border security and asked Washington to deploy Patriot air defense systems.
Second or third front
While Blinken was in Israel, the leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group warned the United States that if Israel did not stop its assault on Gaza then the conflict could widen into a regional war.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in his first speech since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on 7 October, also threatened the US, hinting his Iran-backed paramilitary group was ready to confront American warships in the Mediterranean.
after Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon that year.
It is backed by Iran and leads a multi-party alliance that holds just under half the seats in Lebanon’s parliament.
Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, the US, Germany and the UK. The European Union lists only its military wing as a terrorist organisation.
However, Hezbollah itself makes no distinction between its political and military wings.
“You, the Americans, can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression,” Nasrallah said. “Whoever wants to prevent a regional war, and I am talking to the Americans, must quickly halt the aggression on Gaza.”
