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Washington Post analysis finds hospital blast not caused by airstrike

27 October 2023, 12:01 pm Edit

A Washington Post analysis, using triangulated videos and other data, appears to confirm Israel’s contention that the blast at al-Ahli hospital on October 17 was not caused by an Israeli airstrike, but rather a misfired Palestinian rocket.

However, like a New York Times analysis, it finds that a video that appears to show a rocket exploding in mid-air moments before the blast, and cited as evidence by the IDF, likely shows an unrelated Iron Dome interceptor missile.

The Post’s review, using videos shot in Bat Yam and Netivot, finds the rockets were fired from somewhere southwest of the hospital.

Another video, in which a projectile can be heard screaming through the air before the hospital parking lot goes up in flames, is consistent with the noise a falling rocket would make as opposed to an air strike, according to forensic audio experts.

Damage from the blast site is also consistent with a malfunctioning rocket filled with fuel and not an air strike, it finds.

However, al-Jazeera footage cited by the IDF as proof of the failed rocket launch actually appears to show an Iron Dome missile exploding mid-air, according to the station, which uses other videos to triangulate the launch source to outside Gaza. Experts note the missile’s trajectory shows it changing direction, rather than following a rocket’s ballistic path.

The Israeli military has claimed the rocket that hit al-Ahli was misfired during an Islamic Jihad barrage.

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