The video distributed by the IDF shows masked men disembarking from the ambulance that then continues to the scene of the confrontation, at a demonstration against US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"A Red Crescent ambulance was documented aided Palestinian rioters in Ramallah, under the guise of providing medical treatment,"wrote Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Major General Yoav Mordechai, in what the IDF termed a "sharp letter" to the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross. "I view this with the utmost severity and demand the incident be investigated and that I be updated on its findings."
On its Arabic Language Facebook page, COGAT wrote that by taking the actions seen in the video, the Red Crescent violated its self-declared mission to remain neutral by avoiding taking sides in any political, religious or ethnic conflict.
The Red Crescent and the ICRC have yet to issue a public response.
Clashes over the Jerusalem move have been going on since Wednesday when Trump made the dramatic announcement that he was breaking with US foreign policy and authorize the transferring of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The decision sparked a wave of angry protests across the Arab and Muslim World and rebukes from the West. In the West Bank, hundreds continue to answer the calls of nationalist and religious Palestinian groups and take to the streets to confront IDF and Border Police troops who are out in great numbers. Protests often turn violent with demonstrators hurling rocks, Molotov Cocktails and burning tires at the forces who respond with tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and other riot-dispersal methods.
