From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
IDF says lack of crater at hospital blast site proves it wasn’t behind strike
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces publishes drone footage that it says proves a deadly blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip was not caused by its ordnance, which it says would have left a crater and not a burning parking lot and shrapnel-pocked roofs.
The video shows images of the hospital’s parking lot, where the blast struck, causing hundreds of casualties according to Hamas health officials.
The images show that a large fire was caused in the area as a result of the blast, but there is no crater. Israeli strikes generally leave large holes in the ground, the army says.
IDF publishes drone footage showing before and after the failed Islamic Jihad rocket slammed into the parking lot of the Ahli hospital in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/X4W9Jo18D1
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 18, 2023
The drone footage also points to shrapnel that landed on the roof of the nearby buildings, which remain largely intact.
Israel has denied accusations that one of its airstrikes caused the blast and has instead blamed it on a failed rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
Other footage, including an Al Jazeera livestream, have appeared to further back Israel’s claim that a failed Gazan rocket caused the blast.
