Israel military posts video of Gaza hospital blast, says it was due to failed rocket launch

Jerusalem, Oct 18 (IANS) The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday posted a video on social media which included multiple shots showing the deadly Gaza hospital explosion, saying it was caused by a "failed rocket launch" and not an airstrike.

The IDF posted the 30-second video on X and said : "A failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City.

"IAF (Israel Air Force) footage from the area around the hospital before and after the failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization."

Using images showing fire damage to several vehicles in the hospital parking lot, the IDF video suggests that a fire broke out at the hospital as the result of the failed rocket launch, reports CNN.

The IDF added that there were no visible signs of craters or significant damage to buildings that would result from an airstrike.

Speaking to CNN on Wednesday, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said the “first packet of information” was “evidence that clearly supports the fact that it could not have been an Israeli bomb".

“There was no collateral or significant damage to the buildings around it. No crater, and nothing that is similar to locations where Israeli bombs have struck."

Conricus also acknowledged that the IDF was slow to release information because it took hours for the Israeli military to “investigate and get to the bottom of the situation”. 

The Islamic Jihad movement however, has denied Israel's assertions that a failed rocket launch was responsible, claiming that it does not use public facilities such as hospitals for military purposes.

In a statement published on Wednesday , the group called the Israeli accusations as “false and baseless".

The Al-Ahli Hospital was sheltering thousands of displaced people when it was bombed on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement. 

Many victims are still under the rubble, it added.

While Hamas said that some 500 people were killed, the Ministry said the fatalities ranged from 200 to 300.

It was one of 20 hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military.

Out of 35 hospitals in the Hamas-controlled enclave, four are inoperable because of significant damage and direct targeting.

Gaza has a population of roughly 2 million and the raging conflict has displaced some 600,000 people, many of whom have sought safety in hospitals which are already overwhelmed with rising casualties and deaths.

The UN said that essential supplies such as food, water, and vital health medications are depleting in Gaza.