At least 13 people were killed, and 26 others were injured after Israeli airstrikes targeted the main gate of Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in the blockaded Gaza Strip on Friday.

Israeli strike hit a convoy of ambulances, which the health ministry said killed multiple people near the territory's largest hospital.

The ambulances were carrying patients to the Rafah Crossing, reports said.

The Israeli army confirmed that it had targeted an ambulance in Gaza City, claiming that a Hamas cell was allegedly using the ambulance.

"In response, an Israeli Defense Forces aircraft struck and neutralized the Hamas terrorists, who were operating within the ambulance," it added.

"We emphasize that this area in Gaza is a war zone," the Israeli army said, noting that "civilians are repeatedly called upon to evacuate southward for their own safety." The country is notorious for targeting not only hospitals, schools and places of worship, but it also targets civilians trying to flee to the south, leaving Palestinians with nowhere safe to seek refuge.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw multiple bodies beside a damaged ambulance.

A government statement said Israeli forces targeted "a convoy of ambulances which was transporting the wounded" from Gaza City towards Rafah in the south.

The health ministry announced that "several citizens were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike at the entrance to Al-Shifa hospital" in Gaza City.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident when contacted by AFP.

Al-Shifa Hospital is facing severe overcrowding, with a bed occupancy rate of 164% according to the World Health Organization.

Some 16 hospitals across Gaza are no longer functioning due to damage from strikes and a lack of fuel, the health ministry said.

On Monday, Israeli jets targeted the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the besieged enclave's only hospital for cancer patients.

Israel also targeted other hospitals and refused to claim responsibility for the inhumane attacks.

The WHO warned Wednesday that the fuel shortage "immediately risks the lives" of the wounded and other patients.

More than 23,500 people have been wounded across Gaza in four weeks of war, the health ministry said, while the death toll has surpassed 9,200.

Over 9,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed in incessant Israeli attacks.

Red Cross deplores attacks on ambulances in Gaza

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Friday deplored the attacks on ambulances in the Gaza Strip.

The horrific and shocking images of the attacks on patients and ambulances close to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza reminded "me (of) the Markale market shelling in Sarajevo," President Francesco Rocca wrote on X.

"These scenes are unacceptable! Civilians, ambulances, doctors, hospitals must be protected. Always," he denounced.

The Israeli army has widened its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since the surprise offensive by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Besides the large number of casualties and displacement, basic supplies are running low for Gaza's 2.3 million residents due to the Israeli siege.