IDF proves explosion in Gazan hospital was a Palestinian rocket misfire

Israeli intelligence even has a recording of one Hamas terrorist telling another that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad had shot the rocket from a cemetery behind the hospital ‘and it fell on them.’ 

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The IDF has proof that the rocket that hit a Gazan hospital Tuesday was a misfire from a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)  launcher, and that Hamas lied when it said it was an Israeli missile and hundreds had been killed, chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Wednesday in a press conference.

There were multiple pieces of evidence refuting Hamas claims.

“At 6:15 PM, a barrage of rockets was fired by Hamas to Israel,” said Hagari. “Then, at 6:59 PM a barrage of around ten rockets was fired by Islamic Jihad” that was close to the Al-Ahli Arabi Hospital. This was the same time that an explosion was reported at the medical center, he noted.

Israel already came out with a statement shortly after the incident saying that there had been no IDF fire at the time that hit the hospital. Hagari confirmed this, and noted as well that IDF radar tracked the Gazan rocket launches at the time of the explosion. “Trajectory analysis” confirmed that the rockets were launched from a site close to the hospital, he said.

“Two independent videos” also showed “the failure of the rocket launch and the continuation of rocket flight towards the ground … falling in the hospital compound.”

The kicker, however, was confirmation from Hamas itself. He shared with the journalists a translation of a recording made by Israeli intelligence of terrorists talking to each other about rockets misfiring, and making specific reference to the hospital. The shrapnel, one tells the other, “is not like Israeli shrapnel,” and the second operative saying, “It couldn’t have been found another place, not the hospital, to explode?”

“They shot it from a cemetery behind the hospital…and it misfired and fell on them,” the first one explained.

Hagari said that the terror organization chose to twist the story and use it for propaganda purposes.

“Hamas checked the reports, understood that it was an Islamic Jihad rocket that had misfired, and decided to launch a global media campaign to hide what really happened. They went as far as inflating the number of casualties.”

To counter the supposed casualty count, the spokesman described the process by which the IDF proved there was not even significant damage to the site.

“Analysis of our aerial footage confirms that there was no direct hit to the hospital itself,” the only damage being to its parking lot, that had “some signs of burning, no cratering, and no structural damage to nearby buildings.” He showed the press both real-time photos and infra-red imagery to back up his words.

Israeli munitions, he pointed out, would have landed with real destructive force.

Hagari castigated the media outlets who immediately reported “the lies spread by Hamas” instead of waiting for credible information. These include respected international outlets such as Reuters, and not only Arab media.

“I want to make something clear,” he stated. “It is impossible to know what happened as quickly as Hamas claimed they knew. That should have been an initial warning sign for many. Unlike Hamas, the IDF launched an immediate examination which was overseen at the very highest levels of command. This review was based on intelligence information, operational systems and aerial footage, all of which we cross-checked.”

Hagari noted that “approximately 450 rockets” of the thousands launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip had fallen short into the enclave itself, and “Palestinian civilians pay the price.”