IDF acknowledges mistakenly firing on ambulances in Rafah, says troops were targeting Hamas vehicles

The IDF acknowledges mistakenly opening fire on ambulances and fire engines in the southern Gaza Strip a week ago, as it targeted and killed several Hamas operatives.

The incident took place last Sunday in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah. According to Hamas authorities, at least one rescue worker was killed.

According to the military, troops had opened fire “toward Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists” in Tel Sultan.

“A few minutes afterward, additional vehicles advanced suspiciously toward the troops… The troops responded by firing toward the suspicious vehicles, eliminating a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists,” the IDF says.

The IDF adds that “after an initial inquiry, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles… were ambulances and fire trucks,” while condemning “the repeated use” by “terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip of ambulances for terrorist purposes.”

The military did not say if there was fire coming from the vehicles.

On Friday, the Hamas-run civil defense agency reported finding the body of the team leader and the rescue vehicles — an ambulance and a firefighting vehicle — and said a vehicle from the Palestine Red Crescent Society was also “reduced to a pile of scrap metal.”