Italian minister disputes death toll of Gaza hospital blast

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday a blast at a hospital in Gaza City last week was not caused by a missile fired by Israel and also said around 50 people had been killed, not the almost 500 reported by Palestinian officials.

Tajani, who did not say what evidence his comments were based on, was commenting on the Oct. 17 explosion at Al Ahli hospital, among the most hotly disputed events of the Gaza war.

The Gaza health ministry has put the death toll at 471.

An Israeli official has said the toll appeared to be "several dozen". A U.S. intelligence report estimated the number of those killed to be "probably at the low end of the 100 to 300 spectrum".

"We need to avoid the negative impact of propaganda. Because that missile, which was said to have caused 500 deaths - in reality it was around 50 people - and which inflamed Arab masses in big cities, was not however launched by Israel," Tajani told the Sky TG24 news channel.

Tajani said the missile hit the hospital car park.

The governing Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accused Israel of carrying out an air strike on the hospital. Israel denied that, saying the blast was caused by a Palestinian rocket falling short after being launched at Israel.

The Israeli account has been supported by U.S., French and Canadian analyses.

The minister said in a separate interview that Italy was working to bring a group of 18 people, including Italians and their Palestinian relatives, out of the Gaza Strip.

"Cars are ready to leave from Cairo to go and pick them up when the Rafah crossing opens," Tajani told RAI public radio.

The group comprises seven Italians, seven dual Italian-Palestinian nationals and four Palestinians, Tajani said, adding that a 19th person, an Italian Red Cross worker, had said she wanted to remain in Gaza.

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Alvise Armellini; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Mike Harrison and Alison Williams)