The Israeli Air Force is rumored to have bombed Gaza’s hospital. This may be the biggest story of the Israeli-Hamas conflict since the first attacks on the 7th of October. Like the false claim that Israel had bombed an interstate a few days ago, which was disproven through video analysis. There appears to be more behind this story.
Here are some initial videos and statements.
🚨JUST IN: The moment an alleged Israeli Air Force struck the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip a few minutes ago.
Some are alleging the rocket could have been a failed Hamas rocket, however we have not seen any indication of those claims.
We do not yet know the source… pic.twitter.com/SX6JAHXetF
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 17, 2023
Before I continue, let me say that I do not know what exactly hit the hospital or how badly it was damaged. Hamas should always be subjected to some sort of critical analysis.
On its face, for example, the reported death count makes no sense. Hamas is asking us to believe that it was able, in less than an hour, to extinguish the fires, remove the rubble, and accurately count the number of people who died. Even a close estimation is impossible.
Hamas claimed 900 deaths within an hour. The world’s best governments would have taken a week just to determine a preliminary death toll in this situation.
This is not to say that there aren’t many casualties. Hamas is known to store weapons underneath hospitals. It’s possible that something struck the building and ignited an even larger explosion.
The video above clearly shows that something was being propelled through the air at a very high speed. This would indicate it wasn’t a guided bomb or an unguided one from an IAF plane (both fall in freefall without propellant). I’ve found that the IAF has a limited arsenal of weapons that match that in the video. That is, assuming the video was even taken at the event.
Aside from the sound, there are other reasons to think that this was a Hamas missile that was either intentionally fired into the hospital or fell short. Hamas reported that rocket attacks were being launched at the time of the hospital’s attack on Telegram.
One minute before a rocket blew up a hospital in Gaza, Hamas announced on Telegram that they were launching their most robust weapons in the arsenal at Haifa.
No rockets reached Haifa. High probability these hit the hospital and set off secondary explosions within building. pic.twitter.com/xxfmzYxjru
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) October 17, 2023
This tracks because the reports of the hospital explosion happened around the same time I saw, from the outskirts of Sderot, multiple rockets being fired at Israel. Hopefully we’ll get a clearer answer soon. https://t.co/knMUzmKax5
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) October 17, 2023
Other videos are circulating that claim to show a missile going out of control, and landing short. You should be aware that these videos are not confirmed and could come from another conflict.
The message is caution. We will know more about the damage when the sun comes up. There will also be videos that confirm what was actually flying in the air. No media outlet should report anything until then without any doubt.
