Hamas slams US allegation that it uses ambulances as cover in Gaza

Ambulances seen during funeral prayer held at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, located in the southern Gaza Strip, for health workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent who were killed in an Israeli attack, on March 31, 2025 [Hani Alshaer/Anadolu Agency]

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement slammed on Monday the allegation made by US National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes that the movement “uses ambulances and more broadly human shields for terrorism” in Gaza. Hamas said that the claim reflects the Trump administration’s “understanding” of the Israeli occupation forces execution of Palestine Red Crescent Society paramedics and Civil Defence personnel in Rafah last month.

According to Hamas, the allegation by Hughes that it uses ambulances to provide cover for its resistance operations in Gaza is “mere lies devoid of any evidence” propagated by the US administration and the Israeli government to justify its “heinous” and documented crimes against paramedics and rescue workers.

“The video released by the New York Times confirmed the horrific nature of the crime committed by the fascist Israeli army against humanitarian aid workers, who are protected under international law,” said the movement. “It is one of hundreds of crimes perpetrated against paramedics, civil defence teams, UN staff and other civilian institutions throughout the months of aggression.”

Hamas called on the US to end its open support for the targeting of humanitarian efforts by Israel and the occupation state’s killing and burning of children and other civilians. It also called for an end to Israel’s violations of international laws, rather than granting Israeli war criminals legal and political cover to continue committing crimes against humanity.

The Israeli occupation resumed its aggression and tightened the siege of the Gaza Strip at dawn on 18 March after a two-month pause under a ceasefire agreement that came into force on 19 January.

Israel has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, 2023, killing or wounding at least 166,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women. An estimated 11 others are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by Israel.

READ: Israeli soldiers describe clearance of ‘kill zone’ around Gaza

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.