The Palestinian Red Crescent condemned the deadly attack on the Gaza ambulance

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) condemned the targeting of a convoy of ambulances in Gaza by Israeli forces on Friday, saying 15 people were killed and more than 60 injured.

The PRCS said in a statement early Saturday that one of its ambulances was hit "by a missile fired by Israeli forces" about 2 meters from the entrance to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Agence France-Presse reported.

The attack killed 15 civilians and wounded 60, the PRCS said, mirroring figures previously released by the Hamas-run health ministry.

Another ambulance, belonging to the Ministry of Health, was "directly targeted" by a missile about a kilometer from the hospital, causing injuries and damage, it said.

The PRCS, part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, added that the deliberate targeting of medical teams was "a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions, a war crime".

Israel's military said it launched an airstrike "on an ambulance that was identified by forces as being used by a Hamas terrorist cell near their positions on the battlefield".

"Several Hamas terrorists were killed in the attack," a military statement said.

Hamas official Izzat El Reshik said the allegations of the presence of their fighters were "baseless".

In a statement on the incident, Israel's military did not provide any evidence to support its claim that the ambulance was linked to Hamas but said it intended to release additional information.