HRW says Israeli strike on ambulance 'apparently unlawful'

Human Rights Watch has released a statement saying that the Israeli military’s strike on a marked ambulance just outside of Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital on 3 November was "apparently unlawful" and should be probed as a possible war crime.

Israel said that the ambulance was being used by Hamas. HRW said it didn't find any evidence that the ambulance was being used for military purposes.

The rights group also said that according to international law or the laws of war, any warring party is not allowed to target ambulances or hospitals, even if they are being used to "treat enemy fighters".

“The need to safely transport wounded people to hospitals is critical in armed conflicts, so the laws of war provide special protections for ambulances used solely for this purpose,” Lama Fakih, HRW's Middle East and North Africa director.

“For the Israeli authorities to claim that their deadly November 3 attack on an ambulance in a crowded area was lawful, they need to do more than just insist that Palestinian fighters were using an ambulance as transport.”

The air strike killed 15 people and injured 60 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry.