Israel has denied responsibility for the blast at a Gaza hospital, which Hamas claims killed at least 500 people and trapped many more under rubble.
The Israeli army claims that intelligence information revealed that the strike that hit al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City was a rocket misfired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants.
However, an Islamic Jihad official stated that this is “completely incorrect” and accused the IDF of “trying to cover up the horrifying crime and massacre they committed against civilians.”
At the time of the incident, hundreds of Palestinians were allegedly taking refuge at the hospital, which Hamas has described as a “horrific massacre” and a “crime of genocide.”
The bloodshed occurred as the US attempted to persuade Israel to allow supplies to desperate citizens, humanitarian groups, and hospitals in the tiny Gaza Strip, which has been under total siege since Hamas’s deadly rampage in southern Israel.
It also occurred a day before US President Joe Biden was scheduled to visit the region to express support for Israel and try to prevent the war from spreading.
In response to the airstrike, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is said to have postponed the meeting with Biden.
According to an examination of IDF operating systems, the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is “responsible for the failed shooting that hit the hospital.”
According to the IDF, a ‘barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit’.
‘Intelligence from several sources we have in our hands shows that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the unsuccessful rocket launch that hit the hospital in Gaza,’ an IDF spokeswoman stated.
The Islamic Jihad is another Gaza-based terrorist organization that claims to be fighting with Hamas against Israel. The gang has denied any involvement in the attack.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli army stated that a hospital is a “highly sensitive building” and “not an IDF target,” and asked “everyone to proceed with caution when reporting unverified claims of a terrorist organization.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has also blamed the United States for the attack, saying in a televised speech late on Tuesday that Washington gave Israel ‘the cover for its aggression.’
‘The hospital massacre confirms the enemy’s brutality and the extent of his feeling of defeat,’ he said, adding that the attack will be ‘a new turning point.’
Haniyeh called on all Palestinian people ‘to get out and confront the occupation and the settlers.’ He also called on all Arabs, and Muslims to stage protests against Israel.
Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal also called for protests in front of Israeli embassies across the world after the hospital blast.