Israel’s army has acknowledged it attacked ambulances and firetrucks in the southern Gaza Strip after identifying them as “suspicious vehicles”.

Israeli forces “opened fire toward Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists”, the military said in a statement.

“A few minutes afterward, additional vehicles advanced suspiciously toward the troops … The troops responded by firing toward the suspicious vehicles, eliminating a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.”

It added: “After an initial inquiry, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles … were ambulances and fire trucks”. It condemned “the repeated use” by “terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip of ambulances for terrorist purposes”.

The incident took place last Sunday in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood in the southern city of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border.