Footage appears to show rocket fired from Gaza over hospital
Israeli TV station reveals new livestream footage claiming to be proof rocket fired from Gaza malfunctioned mid-air moments before devastating explosion at hospital that killed hundreds
- An explosion at a hospital in Gaza Tuesday was reported to have killed hundreds
An Israeli TV station has released new footage which appears to show rockets fired over a hospital in Gaza just moments before an explosion killed hundreds last night.
It comes as Israel’s military share footage and analysis which they say support their claims they were not responsible for a deadly blast at a hospital on Tuesday.
The video clip livestreamed on Israeli television shows a salvo of rockets being launched before explosions rock an area reported to be the site of the Al-Ahli Hospital.
Channel 12 News claimed the timestamped video was ‘proof’ that a rocket fired in Palestine malfunctioned mid-air before crashing down and bursting into flames.
News anchor Yonit Levy said: ‘This is proof of Israel’s claims that it was actually missiles from the Gaza Strip shot in the direction of the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.’
Israel has denied it fired a missile at the hospital in the Gaza Strip, earlier sharing what it says is evidence a jihadist group from Palestine was behind the blast.
Israel’s foes – Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hezbollah and Iran – insist the IDF was behind the devastation and vowed to take revenge. Analysts have also continued to call into question the verifiability of the IDF’s ‘evidence’ – and critics are already disputing the TV station’s footage.
Channel 12 News claimed video footage showed a rocket launching in Palestine and hitting near the hospital
Moments later, an explosion was seen, apparently near the al-Ahli Hospital last night
On Tuesday night, an explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital was reported to have killed as many as 500 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The strike comes amid a brutal bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ incursion into Israel, killing some 1,400 and taking many hostage, on Saturday, October 7.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said after the explosion on Tuesday that the damage to the hospital came from an Israeli air strike.
READ MORE: DOES Israel have proof it wasn’t behind Gaza hospital bloodbath? Experts examine IDF’s dossier of ‘evidence’ claiming explosion was a ‘misfiring rocket’ – which it says is backed up by lack of crater and image of shrapnel on roof
Israel has categorically denied the claims, providing what it says is evidence Palestinian factions were responsible.
Speaking to media on Wednesday morning, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari showed a series of images, satellite photos and intelligence documents he said proved the damage caused at the hospital could not possibly have come from an Israeli strike.
He explained the images showed there was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli hospital, no craters in the adjacent car park, and no debris consistent with an air strike, implying a direct hit from an Israeli missile would have caused far more destruction.
‘The walls stay intact. There are no craters in the parking lot. These are the characteristics that show it was not an aerial munition that hit the parking lot,’ he concluded.
He also pointed out images of what he claimed was shrapnel on the roof of nearby buildings, suggesting the rocket fell apart in the air and sprayed its detritus across a larger area.
Israeli officials also released a video apparently of the moment a rocket streaking towards Israel from Gaza appeared to suffer a problem and suddenly changed course.
The projectile is seen soaring through the air before jerking away from its original path. Seconds later the flames from its engines spark even brighter before flaming out completely.
In the darkness, it is not clear whether the rocket broke apart or simply lost its trajectory.
But moments later, a pair of explosions erupt in the city below – the result of what Israel claims was the rocket falling back to Earth and striking the hospital in Gaza City.
An IDF statement read: ‘A failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City.
‘This is the tragic result of firing rockets from densely populated neighborhoods.’
Finally, in an audio clip ostensibly procured by Israeli military intelligence, two alleged Hamas terrorists can be heard discussing the explosion. They confirm that the rocket came from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a separate group operating independently from Hamas – but against Israel.
‘They are saying (the rocket) belongs to Palestinian Islamic Jihad,’ one alleged Hamas member says.
‘It’s from us?’ another responds in surprise and shock?
‘It looks like it,’ the first responded. ‘They are saying the shrapnel that fell from the missile is local shrapnel and not like Israeli shrapnel… It misfired and fell on them.
‘God bless – couldn’t it have found another place to explode?’
Israel’s official social media accounts shared the clip with the caption: ‘Hamas terrorists in their own voices: Listen to the conversation between Hamas operatives as they discuss the failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on October 17, 2023.’
The IDF argued that an Israeli strike would’ve caused craters and considerably more damage
‘The walls stay intact. There are no craters in the parking lot. These are the characteristics that show it was not an aerial munition that hit the parking lot,’ Hagari concluded. Damaged cars are seen in this image but no evidence of major damage to the tarmac itself
‘Unlike Hamas, the IDF launched an immediate examination’ of the attack, he said, going onto explain there was no IDF fire ‘from land, sea or air that hit the hospital’, the spokesman said
Before and after images of the blast site published by Israel allegedly showed the damage could not have been caused by an Israeli airstrike
A Palestinian girl carries a blankets as she walks past the explosion site at al-Ahli hospital, in Gaza City
People react at the area of Al-Ahli hospital, where hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other, in Gaza City, October 18, 2023
A Palestinian girl carries a blankets as she walks past the explosion site at al-Ahli hospital, in Gaza City
Notably, the footage and analysis coming from the IDF is yet to be independently verified.
The UK and allies are seeking to investigate the explosion after Israel and Hamas issued rival claims about the atrocity.
Hamas said an Israeli air strike led to the blast, which has killed at least 500 people, Gaza health officials have said.
But the Israeli military said the explosion was caused by a misfired rocket from the Islamic Jihad group and released imagery and communications intercepts aimed at supporting their case.
Mr Cleverly said: ‘The destruction of al Ahli hospital is a devastating loss of human life. The UK has been clear: the protection of civilian life must come first.
‘The UK will work with our allies to find out what has happened and protect innocent civilians in Gaza.’
Treasury minister Andrew Griffith told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘It’s wrong to get into conjecture and this is a time when we should all choose our words responsibly.
‘It will take time, inevitably, in the fog of these things for the true facts to emerge – but they should and to the extent that the UK has any assets that can be brought to bear on what exactly happened then it’s right that we put those at the disposal of our allies.’
Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said it is a ‘complete and utter human tragedy’ and called for an independent probe.
‘I think everybody has a responsibility to condemn it and condemn it in the strongest possible way,’ he told BBC Breakfast.
‘It’s a complete breach of international law – the targeting of a hospital.
‘There should be an independent investigation to find those who are responsible for it.’
Dr Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security at King’s College London, told MailOnline: ‘Everyone is trying to poke holes in both sides of the versions. But Israel controls the whole of the Gaza Strip and the IDF is quite good at doctoring images.
‘I am not saying that they have. But they are party to the conflict and they should not become the judge on what happened here. It is up to western governments, particularly the US, to really put pressure on Israel here.’
He added: ‘I think what needs to happen is an independent inquiry to show what can really happen. Information now has to come from independent investigators.
‘It probably was a misguided missile but we only have the imagery that the IDF has released. That on its own cannot be the basis of information.
‘We need something literally on the ground. We would need to look at it independently.’
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