Israeli army arrests 8 Red Crescent workers in northern Gaza

ANKARA

After storming the ambulance center in Jabalia, Gaza of the Palestinian Red Crescent aid group, the Israeli army arrested eight of its staffers, the group said on Friday.

They were taken to an unknown location by the Israeli army, the Red Crescent Society said in a statement.

The Israeli army also reportedly destroyed the Red Crescent ambulances and part of its headquarters in the northern city of Jabalia, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) north of Gaza City.

The statement added that the Israeli army assaulted 47 men who were inside its building before stripping them naked and arresting them.

The Red Crescent said the Israeli army had ordered the people living near its ambulance center to go to it and then arrested them. The women present were kept alone inside the building, it added.

It also said the Israeli army destroyed the center's walkie-talkie communication system, cutting its contact and losing its ability to receive calls from the public.

Under the rules of war, hospitals, ambulances, and aid group buildings are supposed to be off-limits to attacks, along with health care workers.

Since Oct. 7, the Israeli army has been waging a destructive war on Gaza, resulting in 20,057 deaths and 53,320 wounded so far, most of them children and women. This has caused immense damage to infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to Palestinian and international sources.