According to French military intelligence, there is no evidence that an Israeli attack caused the explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
French military intelligence has concluded that a misfiring Palestinian rocket was the likely cause of the deadly explosion at Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, as Israeli and Palestinian officials share blame for the blast.
The Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM) said on Friday that a stray Palestinian rocket with an explosive charge of about 5 kg was the likely cause of the explosion and that none of its intelligence indicated an Israeli rocket attack.
In a briefing to multiple news outlets, a senior French military official said the size of the explosion was consistent with rockets used by Palestinians and that the impact crater was too small to have been caused by an Israeli missile.
The DRM did not provide an estimated death toll but said it was likely lower than the 471 fatalities reported by Palestinian officials, news outlets reported.
The assessment was based on classified information, satellite images, information shared by other countries and open source information, including images that showed minor structural damage to the hospital and relatively few civilian items at the blast site.
French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the DRM, which typically does not make its work public, to share its findings amid conflicting accounts about who carried out the attack.
The French intelligence assessment adds to a flood of claims and counter-claims about the hospital explosion that has sparked protests across the Middle East.
Palestinian officials have blamed the explosion on an Israeli airstrike, while Israel claimed it was caused by a rocket fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group, which denied responsibility.
An Al Jazeera investigation based on video footage has cast doubt on Israeli statements that a flash captured on a live newscast was caused by a misfiring missile that hit the hospital.
The United States National Security Council said earlier this week that its “current assessment” was that Israel was not responsible for the explosion.
According to the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health, 471 people were killed in the explosion. According to Israel, the death toll was deliberately increased.
US secret services estimate the number of victims at 100 to 300 people.
On Friday, the United Nations called for an independent investigation into the explosion.
“There is clearly a need for an investigation, an independent investigation into what happened,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office, said during a news conference in Geneva.
“There has to be accountability.”