1697843914 Explosion in al Ahli hospital in Gaza French military intelligence

Explosion in al Ahli hospital in Gaza: French military intelligence supports the hypothesis"a Palestinian rocket" Franceinfo

For reasons of transparency, the French military intelligence agency has decided to publish its analyzes at the request of the French presidency.

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Published on October 20, 2023 11:02 p.m

Reading time: 1 minA satellite photo of the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, October 17, 2023. (SATELLITE IMAGE / MAXAR TECH / AFP)

A satellite photo of the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, October 17, 2023. (SATELLITE IMAGE / MAXAR TECH / AFP)

While Palestinians and Israelis have been blaming each other for the Gaza hospital shooting since Tuesday, France’s Military Intelligence Agency (DRM) estimated on Friday, October 20, that “nothing allows this.”[tait] saying that “an Israeli attack” had taken place on the hospital. “The nature of the explosion and exchanges with other intelligence partners led me to (confirm) that there is nothing to suggest that it was an Israeli attack.” “The most likely hypothesis is a Palestinian missile, with a payload of about five kilos exploded,” a DRM official told reporters.

For reasons of transparency, the DRM decided to publish its analyzes at the request of the French presidency, he argued. Based on its findings about the explosion site, the DRM identified a hole, not a crater, measuring about one meter by 75 cm and 30 to 40 cm deep. “To achieve this effect, about five kilos of explosives are needed, in any case less than ten kilos,” he emphasized.

The size of the crater in question

In his opinion, the hypothesis of an Israeli bomb or missile is not possible because the minimum load of this type of weapon is much higher. Such a machine would have formed a much larger crater, this official added. On the other hand, he estimates that for rockets purchased or manufactured by the Palestinians, a load of 5 kilos is appropriate.

“There was no army fire from land, sea or air that hit the hospital,” said General Daniel Hagari, Israeli army spokesman. Israel also claimed to have “evidence” of the responsibility of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian movement close to Hamas and also designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel.

Islamic Jihad called the allegations “lies” and said it was a bomb dropped by an Israeli army plane that caused the tragedy.

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