The Israeli military has said that the absence of a large crater or significant blast damage to nearby buildings adds to proof that the explosion wasn’t caused by one of its ordnances.
“The only location damaged is outside the hospital in the parking lot where we can see signs of burning, no cratering and no structural damage to nearby buildings,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Oct. 18.
Mr. Hagari argued that any aerial munition would have caused far more damage—and of a different nature.
“We would have seen craters and structural damage to buildings, both of which haven’t been identified in this incident,” he said.
He provided examples of what air-to-ground munition craters look like—and they’re significantly bigger than what was seen in the al-Ahli hospital parking lot.
Imagery of the al-Ahli hospital blast site (L) and examples of air-to-ground munition craters (R), provided by the Israeli military. (IDF)
Mr. Hagari said that multiple sources—intelligence, operational systems, and aerial footage—showed that the blast was caused by a misfired rocket launched by a terror group sympathetic to Hamas called Islamic Jihad, which fired the projectile from a nearby cemetery. [Both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are controlled by Israeli Intelligence, M.C, Global Research]
He said that, at 6:59 p.m. local time, a barrage of around 10 rockets was fired by Islamic Jihad operatives and, moments later, there were reports of an explosion at the hospital.
Further, Mr. Hagari said that the Israeli military had intercepted communications between Hamas operatives that show they were aware that a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket caused the hospital blast—but that they decided to push a fake narrative that it was an Israeli missile.
“According to our intelligence, Hamas checked the reports, understood it was an Islamic Jihad rocket that had misfired—and decided to launch a global media campaign to hide what really happened,” he said. “They went as far as inflating the number of casualties.”
Intercepted Hamas Communications
A recording of a conversation purportedly between several Hamas operatives, released by the Israeli military, confirms Mr. Hagari’s account, namely that it was an Islamic Jihad rocket that had been misfired from near the hospital.
“They are saying that the shrapnel from the missile is local shrapnel and not like Israeli shrapnel,” one of the men says in the recording.
“What are you saying?” the other asks.
After a brief pause, the first man says:
“They shot it from the cemetery behind the hospital.”
While The Epoch Times has been unable to verify the authenticity of the recording, it is another piece of evidence suggesting that Israel is not behind the blast but a failed rocket launch by terrorist forces.
Mr. Hagari also said that, since the start of the Israel–Hamas war, around 450 rockets that have been launched by terrorist organizations aimed at Israel ended up falling in the area of the Gaza Strip.
Image provided by the Israeli military showing failed rocket launches targeting Israel that instead landed in Gaza. (IDF)
Image provided by the Israeli military showing the trajectory of multiple rockets targeting Israel, with the al-Ahli hospital in the direct line of fire. (IDF)
Further, raw footage shared by IDF shows what it says was a rocket aimed at Israel that “misfired and exploded at 18:59—the same moment a hospital was hit in Gaza.”
The footage shows a rocket streaking across the sky before exploding in the air and debris falling, followed by an explosion on the ground—and then an inferno.
Elsewhere, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said that the United States continues to collect information on the incident—but that initial intelligence assessments absolve the Israeli military of responsibility for the blast.
“Our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza,” she said in a statement on X.
While Ms. Watson did not indicate a possible guilty party, President Joe Biden lifted the lid a bit higher on the U.S. assessment, telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Israel on Oct. 18 that “it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.”
As more information has come to light about the blast, Mr. Netanyahu took to X to say that
“barbarian terrorists in Gaza are the ones who attacked the hospital in Gaza, not the IDF.”
“Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children,” he added.
Around 1,400 Israelis were killed when Hamas terrorists broke through a security barrier on Oct. 7 and infiltrated communities, killing civilians in cold blood, including children.
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Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
Featured image is from Al Mayadeen English