Hamas accuses Israel of killing at least 500 people in an airstrike on Al-Ahli Hospital. The Israeli military, however, speaks of a misguided Islamic Jihad rocket. A propaganda war is underway over the question of guilt.
The news coming from the Gaza Strip is terrible. Numerous people are said to have died in a violent explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital. Not only patients were treated at the hospital. Civilians have also taken refuge here due to Israeli airstrikes. But who is responsible for the bloodbath? A propaganda war is now underway between Israel and Hamas and its supporters over this issue.
Immediately after the blast, Islamist Hamas said the hospital had been hit by an Israeli strike. The Gaza Health Ministry said the number of victims was at least 500. Then, on Wednesday morning, the Palestinian ambassador to Japan, Waleed Siam, said the Israeli military sent a warning to the hospital an hour before the attack. Then the air raid occurred.
Shortly after the first report of the devastating attack, angry protesters took to the streets in several cities across the region on Wednesday night to protest Israel. In the capital of Jordan, Amman, for example, they tried to set fire to the Israeli embassy.
Israel shows aerial photos
The Israeli military rejected Hamas’ report after a review that lasted about two hours: Israel did not bomb the hospital. The hospital was hit by an Islamic Jihad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.
Islamic Jihad is one of the extremist organizations operating alongside Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s military intercepted a conversation with Islamic Jihad in which the terrorists admitted a missed shot, army spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said. The Israeli military released aerial photos on Wednesday morning. The video compilation published shows images of the Al-Ahli Clinic and a parking lot where a fire broke out. Aerial photos before and after the fatal incident are compared. Hagari said there were no typical craters that typically form during Israeli airstrikes.
The Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) group also assumes in an initial analysis that the hospital was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. The rocket apparently exploded in mid-air and part of it landed on the hospital.
Russia criticizes USA
Internationally, people were shocked by the devastating attack on the hospital – and demanded clarification about the incident. “The President expressed his deepest condolences to the innocent victims of the explosion at a hospital in Gaza and wished those injured a speedy recovery,” said a spokesman for US President Joe Biden. And UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote in Hospitals and medical staff are protected by international humanitarian law.”
One particularly scathing reaction came from Moscow: “The terrible attack on a hospital in the Gaza Strip is clearly a war crime,” former president and Putin confidant Dmitry Medvedev wrote on the messaging app Telegram. “Who unconsciously spend colossal amounts of money on weapons and overload their military-industrial complex. Who falsely proclaim that they want to protect democratic values around the world. The USA.” Russia also demands that the US and Israel send satellite images to clarify the question of guilt. (red)