Al-Shifa ambulance airstrike

On 3 November 2023, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip and the siege of Gaza City, an Israeli airstrike struck an ambulance convoy that was departing from al-Shifa Hospital while carrying critically injured patients. According to reporting, the strike killed 15 people and wounded at least 60. The convoy included vehicles operated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), which was part of the convoy and stated that all 15 people killed were civilians. The airstrike also caused damage to al-Shifa Hospital itself.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged carrying out the airstrike. The IDF said that Hamas militants were killed in the attack and asserted that one of the ambulances in the convoy was being used to transport Hamas personnel and weaponry. The Gaza Health Ministry denied that the ambulances had any military use.

Human Rights Watch examined the available evidence and said it "did not find evidence that the ambulance was being used for military purposes." A Washington Post analysis of videos of the strike similarly found no evidence of weapons or individuals in military clothing among those in the convoy. Human Rights Watch further stated that under international humanitarian law, ambulances must not be attacked even if they are transporting wounded combatants, and said the attack could constitute a war crime. The World Health Organization condemned the strike.

This incident is one of numerous documented attacks on healthcare facilities, personnel, and transport during the Gaza war. Israel is alleged to have broken medical neutrality, a protection under the Geneva Conventions, and that Gaza officials have accused the IDF of deliberately targeting ambulances and health facilities with airstrikes; the Palestine Red Crescent has demanded "accountability for this war crime" in relation to attacks on medical infrastructure generally. The article also documents a broader siege and bombing campaign around al-Shifa Hospital in the surrounding period, including Israeli claims — contested by Hamas — that the hospital complex was used as a military base, and a later New York Times examination that found evidence Hamas had stored weapons and used tunnels beneath parts of the hospital complex, while noting the Israeli military "struggled to prove" claims of a command-and-control center specifically.

The matter remains a subject of documentation by human rights organizations and international bodies examining potential violations of international humanitarian law during the Gaza war.