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On Tuesday evening, a rocket hit a Palestinian hospital. Both parties blame each other.
What happened? A rocket hit a hospital in the Gaza Strip and caused extensive damage. The number of victims is controversial: According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, 471 people were killed and 324 injured. According to intelligence information from the Israeli army, the number of deaths is significantly lower and the inflated number of victims is part of a disinformation campaign.
It is undisputed that the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City has been severely overcrowded for days. Many people who had been injured in the Israeli bombings of the last few days had gone there. Numerous people who had become homeless also sought refuge outside the hospital.
Who fired the rocket? The question of guilt is unclear. Hamas says it was an Israeli rocket, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also says Israel crossed all red lines.
According to Israeli information, however, a misdirected rocket from the militant Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad triggered the explosion. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari told journalists in Tel Aviv that the destruction in a parking lot next to the clinic could be explained primarily by a very large amount of rocket propellant.
“The fuel caused a larger explosion than the warhead itself.” That’s why vehicles caught fire. There were many people in the parking lot at the time of the explosion.
There was no typical destruction of the surrounding buildings or a crater like in an Israeli airstrike, explained Hagari. “The parking lot was not hit by Luftwaffe ammunition.”
What does the US say about the explosion? According to the US, based on the information available so far, Israel is not responsible for the explosion in the hospital. The basis of the assessment is the evaluation of aerial photographs, intercepted information and publicly available sources, explains National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson on the short message service X. The evaluations will continue.
How does the Islamic world react? The member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should impose sanctions against Israel, said Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. This includes the imposition of an oil embargo and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador. Iran later called on the Islamic world to break off relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia said at an OIC meeting that the kingdom continues to strive to de-escalate the conflict. Diplomatic circles previously said that Saudi Arabia had stopped talks about a possible normalization of relations with Israel.