The New York Times, which reviewed evidence around the Oct 17 explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, has rejected the Israeli assertion that a rocket fired by a Palestinian group caused the deaths of more than 400 people, mostly children.
But experts were also unable to confirm the counterclaim that an Israeli airstrike had indeed caused the blast.
Israeli and American officials have based their case on an errant Palestinian rocket, which malfunctioned in the sky, fell to the ground and hit the hospital. NYT conducted an independent investigation of the incident, quoting experts as telling its investigators that “a widely cited missile video (that pinned the blame on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group) does not shed light on what happened.”
The video that shows a projectile streaking through the darkened skies over Gaza and exploding in the air was taken from an Al Jazeera television camera live streaming on the night of October 17. It also shows another explosion on the ground seconds later. The footage has become a widely cited piece of evidence but a detailed visual analysis by NYT concludes that the video clip shows something else.
“The missile seen in the video is most likely not what caused the explosion at the hospital. It actually detonated in the sky roughly two miles away,” NYT found.
It added that its “analysis does cast doubt on one of the most-publicised pieces of evidence that Israeli officials have used to make their case and complicates the straightforward narrative they have put forth.”
The footage “also suggests that Israeli bom-bardment was taking place and that two explosions near the hospital can be seen within two minutes of it being struck,” NYT added.
While casting doubts on Israel’s claims, NYT also noted that “Hamas has not produced a remnant of an Israeli munition or any physical evidence to back up its claim that Israel is responsible.”—Agencies
