The Israeli army revealed an event on Wednesday in which a Palestinian missile, not one of its own, tragically exploded in a Gaza hospital overnight, killing hundreds of people. Controlling Gaza, the Palestinian militant organization Hamas has blamed Israel for the blast. Israel claims it happened as a result of a botched missile launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad within the enclave.
The chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Haggery, stressed in an English briefing just prior to President Biden’s eagerly anticipated trip to Israel that there was no onslaught from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) by land or air toward the hospital. He said, “There was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli Al-Arabi hospital, and there was no crater corresponding to an aerial impact from the hospital.”
When questioned about the size of the explosion site, Haggery responded that it was caused by a rocket fuel misfire, which resulted in a fire at no extra expense. He continued, “Most of the damage would likely have been caused by the ignition source and not just the projectile itself.”
Haggery stated that the source of the explosion had not yet been identified as swiftly as he claimed and that Hamas had increased casualties as a result of the explosion.
There were massive protests in occupied territories such the West Bank, Jordan, and Turkey as a result of this episode, which was the deadliest in recent hostilities in Gaza. According to Haggery, over 450 rockets have been fired from Gaza over the course of the last 11 days, with about 450 of those rockets missing their target.
“We have intelligence on rocket misfirings among terrorists,” he stated.
The Israeli military then made a discussion audio recording with an English caption public.
Health officials in Gaza reported that at least 3,000 people had died during Israel’s 11-day bombing campaign, which started after Hamas strikes on southern Israeli villages on October 7 resulted in 1,300 fatalities and about 200 hostages being captured in Gaza.
The possibility of a wider Middle Eastern war has been increased by this battle. While Israel has received backup from the United States in the form of aircraft carriers, Hamas supporters such as Iran and Hezbollah of Lebanon have vowed to retaliate against any land incursions into Gaza that Israel plans to conduct.
The October 7 Hamas attacks provoked the deadliest violence on the Iraq-Lebanon border in 17 years, which resulted in the deaths of several Hezbollah members, three civilians in Lebanon, and at least three Israeli soldiers.