JERUSALEM: Israel’s military published on Wednesday (Oct 18) what it described as evidence that a misfired Palestinian rocket, rather than one of its own munitions, caused an overnight explosion at a Gaza hospital in which hundreds of people died.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, has blamed the blast on Israel. Israel says it was a result of a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group in the enclave.
In an English-language briefing televised shortly before US President Joe Biden landed in Israel for a solidarity visit, chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said an investigation had “confirmed that there was no IDF (Israel Defence Forces) fire from the land, sea or air that hit the hospital”.
He said there was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital and no craters consistent with an air strike.
Asked to explain the size of the explosion at the site, Hagari said it was consistent with unspent rocket fuel catching fire. “Most of this damage would have been done due to the propellant, not just the warhead,” he said.
Source: CNA
