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Hamas Uses Ambulances in Combat: The Truth About What’s Happening in Gaza
Israeli soldiers inspect the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Gaza City, Nov. 15, 2023 in this handout image. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
The Israel Defense Forces have come under criticism in recent days for firing on a convoy of ambulances in Gaza, killing 14, at least six of whom were (according to the IDF) Hamas terrorist combatants.
An early IDF statement that the ambulances had their lights off (and were therefore difficult to identify) appears to be contradicted by a video that was later published by The New York Times, drawing additional criticism.
In essence, Israel’s critics claim it was unreasonable (or perhaps even dishonest) of IDF soldiers to conclude that Hamas was using ambulances in combat, and consequently to open fire.
In truth it would be unreasonable for the IDF to conclude otherwise.
Hamas’s habitual and systematic use of ambulances in combat has been confirmed repeatedly over the years by multiple international sources including:
- The US National Security Council;
- Gaza’s ambulance drivers and hospital directors;
- Official statements by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas;
- By Egyptian news investigations; and
- By Hamas itself, in intercepted communications.
This is in addition to a litany of evidence presented by Israeli sources over the years, including numerous photographs and videos.
In fact, one such video shows Hamas using ambulances to transport terror combatants as part of the massacre on October 7, 2023 — as reposted by the Economic Times.
Hamas’ habitual and systematic use of ambulances is so common that it begs an unavoidable question: how, exactly, is Israel meant to distinguish real medical vehicles from those that carry terrorist combatants? By magic? Perhaps ESP?
Such a distinction, is of course, impossible.
Which is exactly why international law withdraws protection from medical vehicles and personnel when they are engaged in combat.
Specifically, Article 13 of Additional Protocol I to Geneva Convention IV states, “The protection to which medical units and transports are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit hostile acts, outside their humanitarian function.” [emphasis added].
In other words, if any terrorist combatants were embedded within the ambulance convoy, then the entire convoy, including any medical personnel, are defined by international law, as hostile combatants.
Some critics have already begun to insist that Israel should not have fired until after obtaining clear evidence that these specific ambulances contained terror combatants. Others will point to a technical requirement in Article 13 that a warning is necessary before firing on an ambulance: an ideal that may not always be possible in an active combat scenario.
Indeed, in this case, early IDF reports indicated that military drones identified the vehicles approaching IDF soldiers in a “suspicious manner.” In a battlefield situation, where ambulances are routinely used as combat vehicles, this presents an incredibly dangerous scenario, one where hesitating to take action can be deadly.
To be clear, Hamas’ weaponization of its healthcare system, including hospitals and ambulances, creates tragic consequences for all: in particular for Palestinians. However, the solution cannot possibly be to endanger the lives of IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians by allowing Hamas to succeed in this inhumane strategy. Aside from being a senseless and immoral approach, such a response also contravenes international law.
Israel has an ongoing investigation into the incident, and is expected upon its completion to release the findings, including names of the specific terror combatants who were embedded among Gaza’s medical personnel. The IDF has already rejected claims by Hamas that medical personnel were “executed,” that they were “handcuffed,” and that they were “buried in a mass grave.”
Until Israel’s investigation is completed, it is worth remembering that Hamas is on the same international terror lists as ISIS and Al Qaeda: organizations whom the world has never trusted for reliable information, and for good reason. Responsible countries vigorously investigate themselves and their militaries when a need arises, as Israel is doing now. Such investigations, when properly conducted, take time: certainly more time than it takes for a terror organization’s propaganda arm to release a PR statement.
In the meantime, only one thing is certain from years of evidence: that Hamas violates both international law, and all codes of basic human morality, by habitually using ambulances, hospitals, and medical staff as weapons of war.
Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.
The post Hamas Uses Ambulances in Combat: The Truth About What’s Happening in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.