Early Israel, U.S. intelligence claims Islamic Jihad rocket responsible for Gaza hospital explosion

Sarah Gambles
·2 min read
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Palestinians carry belongings as they leave al-Ahli hospital, which they were using as a shelter, in Gaza City on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says an Israeli airstrike caused the explosion that killed hundreds at al-Ahli hospital, but the Israeli military says it was a misfired Palestinian rocket.

An explosion rocked a Christian-run hospital in Gaza Tuesday, killing at least 471 people from the blast. Palestinian authorities, which largely include leaders of Hamas, blamed Israel’s military for the attack, and Israel blamed a misfire by the Islamic Jihad militant group for the tragic explosion.

White House spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement, per The Washington Post, Wednesday:

“While we continue to collect information, 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 yesterday.”

President Joe Biden is currently in Israel in a show of support for the state and Wednesday morning said that it appeared the attack was “done by the other team, not you.”

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Israeli intelligence also provided early evidence that “showed the deadly blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday was caused by an errant rocket fired by Palestinian fighters,” The New York Times reported.

News organizations have not independently confirmed what caused the blast.

More than 3,000 people killed in Gaza, 1,400 people killed in Israel

More than 3,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, and at least 12,500 have been injured in the region since attacks on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, per CNN.

The conflict has also killed more than 1,400 Israelis, CNN reported.

President Biden promises $100 million in aid to Gaza

During his trip, Biden announced $100 million would go to Gaza and the West Bank for humanitarian assistance.

“I was outraged and saddened by the enormous loss of life in the hospital in Gaza. Based on the information we’ve seen today, it appeared it was the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza,” Biden said, per the Deseret News.

Protests following the hospital blast erupted across the Middle East and North Africa — with hundreds of protesters taking to the streets in Lebanon, Jordan and other countries, CNN reported.

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