The Israeli army denied it was involved in the blast that killed hundreds of people at a hospital in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Armed Forces have published a conversation intercepted by Israeli intelligence which, according to them, took place between two members of Hamas, which they admit that the explosion was caused by a rocket of the Islamic Jihad group, which also operates in the territory of Gaza. . Palestinian representatives have rejected the accusations of the Israeli army.
“At 18:15 a barrage of rockets was launched by Hamas towards Israel. At 18:59 a barrage of 10 rockets was launched by Islamic Jihad, from a nearby cemetery. Exactly at 18:59 came the announcement of the explosion at the hospital of Gaza”.
The spokesman of the Israeli army, Daniel Hagari, says that the explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital was the result of the failure of one of the rockets from the Islamic Jihad.
“The damage we see is caused by the Islamic Jihad missile. Most of the rocket’s propeller is still visible due to the short flight, as the launch of the rocket failed,” said Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari.
Mr. Hagari said that about 450 rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel during the last 11 days fell inside the territory controlled by Hamas.
“We have information that was discovered by our intelligence during the interception of a communication between terrorists talking about errors in the launch of missiles,” said Mr. Hagari.
The Israeli Armed Forces released on the X social network, formerly known as Twitter, a recording of a conversation that Israeli military officials say is a conversation between two Hamas officials.
In this recording, one person explains to another that it appears that the explosion was caused by a Palestinian rocket.
“They are saying that it belongs to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad”, one of the voices can be heard in the recording published by the Israeli army, while the other asks: “This was from us”?
“It seems that it was from us”, answers the first person.
The Israeli military has also published several aerial photographs that it says show how the damage caused near the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza was not caused by a rocket fired by Israel.
“According to our intelligence, Hamas saw the press releases, realized it was an Islamic Jihad missile that had exploded by mistake, and decided to launch a global media campaign to hide what actually happened. They also inflated the number of casualties,” says Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
The Islamic Jihad group and representatives of Hamas have denied Israel’s accusations. The claims of the Israeli army have also been rejected by the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank.
“What happened tonight is a great tragedy and an ugly carnage of war that cannot be tolerated or allowed to go unaccounted for. Israel attacked the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City,” says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The attack that caused the explosion at the hospital is reported to have killed around 500 people, many of whom were there seeking refuge from Israeli airstrikes.