New Delhi: Amid the global uproar over the attack on a hospital in Gaza, resulting in 500 deaths, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Wednesday claimed in a post that the incident was the fallout of a “failed rocket launch” by Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation.
“The trajectory analysis from the barrage of rockets confirms that the rockets were fired from close proximity to the hospital. In addition there are two independent videos which show the failure of the rocket launched and continuation of rocket flight towards the ground in the Gaza Strip falling in the hospital compound,” an IDF official said.
The Israel forces also shared satellite footage of the hospital before and after the attack to back its claim.
In the face of a global condemnation, including from the United Nations and the World Health Organisation (WHO), which expressed concern over the air attack on a public healthcare facility and the lives lost, IDF posted from its official handle on X, “A failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City. IAF footage from the area around the hospital before and after the failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.”
The satellite feed shared by the IDF shows the hospital compound before the alleged failed rocket strike and the gutted remains after it caught fire.
It also shared footage of the hospital’s parking lot and the immediate aftermath of the rocket strike.
Further, claiming it had nothing to do with the incident, the IDF showed footage showing no visible craters in the hospital compound as typically happens in an Israeli air strike.
Designated as a terrorist outfit by the US State Department, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is an ally of Hamas. Inspired by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini-led Iranian revolution, the PIJ founders Fathi Shaqaqi and Abd al-Aziz Awda formed this organisation with the primary objective of “militant destruction” of the Israeli state. They carried out their first successful strike in Gaza in 1987.
The airstrike on Al-Ahili hospital in Gaza killed at least 500 people, Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
Strongly condemning the incident, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres posted on X, “I am horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital in Gaza today, which I strongly condemn. My heart is with the families of the victims. Hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law.”
Meanwhile, thousands of protesters took to streets across Middle East over the hospital bombing. They stood in solidarity with Palestine and raised slogans against Israel.