US Arab leaders engage in diplomatic parleys as Gaza conflict rages

Around 15 people were killed, according to Gaza health officials, in an Israeli airstrike on an ambulance that the military claimed was targeting Hamas militants. On Saturday in Jordan, Washington’s top diplomat was scheduled to hear Arab demands for a ceasefire. Health officials in the Hamas-run enclave of Gaza said on Friday that the ambulance that was struck by the Israeli strike was a part of a convoy that was transporting wounded Palestinians to the largest hospital in Gaza, al-Shifa. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra stated, “Upon their arrival to al-Shifa, (Israel) directly targeted the convoy’s second vehicle, committing a terrible massacre that claimed lives of fifteen and wounded over sixty.” An ambulance “being used by a Hamas terrorist cell” was detected and struck, according to Israel’s military, and that several Hamas terrorists were killed. “We want to be clear that this is a combat zone. For their own safety, civilians in the region are frequently asked to evacuate south,” the military stated. The Palestinian Health Ministry, under Hamas control, questioned Israel about the ambulance bombing and asked it to produce documentation proving the vehicle was carrying militants. “A hideous massacre was carried out by the occupation, resulting in the martyrdom of fifteen individuals and the injuries of sixty others, including several displaced people,” al-Qidra declared. The Israeli military said it planned to release more information, but it offered no proof for its claim that the ambulance was associated with Hamas. Hamas and the hospital refute Israel’s accusations that they are hiding command centres and tunnel entrances in al-Shifa. After intensifying a bombing campaign it claims is intended to eradicate Hamas, Israel’s ground forces surrounded Gaza City on Thursday. This came after the militant organisation killed 1,400 people and captured over 240 during an attack in southern Israel on October 7. Israel issued an order last month for all civilians to evacuate Gaza City and the northern portion of the Gaza Strip in favour of the southern portion of the enclave, which it has continued to bomb. The already terrible living conditions in Gaza prior to the fighting have gotten worse. Medical services are collapsing, Gaza residents have turned to drinking salty water, food is scarce, and Gaza health officials say more than 9,250 Palestinians have been killed. (With agency inputs)