FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
JERUSALEM – One meter by 75 centimeters with a depth of 30-40 centimeters. International intelligence agencies examined live footage and images from the Gaza Strip to investigate the causes of the explosion that occurred last Tuesday in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Hospital, founded in 1882 by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and where hundreds had been taken to provide refuge for civilians.
A French military intelligence source – who remained anonymous but was authorized to speak by President Emmanuel Macron – tells the Associated Press agency that “a crater of this size could have been caused by a 5-kilogram warhead.” This element – along with details such as the angle of impact – has led analysts to state as the most likely hypothesis that it was a missile that was fired from inside the strip, exploded in mid-air and loaded with fuel onto the apron fell.
The photos taken in the parking lot the next morning show – as the Corriere writes – the burned cars and the surrounding buildings almost intact. “We have no certainty,” the French official continues, “but this accusation cannot have led to 471 deaths.”
Hamas spokesmen immediately blamed the Israelis and spoke of 500 deaths, the French had reduced the number of victims to 10-50, the Pentagon increased the tragic number to 300. The Canadian services also stated: “Our independent controls tell us with a high level Security “that it was not an Israeli missile,” reiterated Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the armed forces, in the detailed reconstruction carried out by Tsahal and made public.
Other media outlets that carried the Gaza version in the early hours of the morning – such as Britain’s BBC and the Guardian – then conducted their investigations and came to the same conclusion: the flames were most likely caused by a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad , part of a volley of about fifteen bullets that hit Palestinian territory.