Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion

al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion

Part of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Date	17 October 2023 c. 7:00 p.m.
Location	Gaza, Palestine
Coordinates	31°30′18″N 34°27′42″E
Type	Disputed (airstrike or misfired rocket)
Deaths	471 (Gaza Health Ministry claim)
Non-fatal injuries	314 (Gaza Health Ministry claim)
Accused	Israel (claimed by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Gaza Health Ministry, denied by IDF) Palestinian Islamic Jihad (claimed by Israel and the United States, denied by PIJ)

On 17 October 2023, amid the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, an explosion at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, where thousands of displaced Palestinians had sought shelter from airstrikes, caused an unprecedented number of deaths–more than any other single event in Gaza since the conflict between Gaza and Israel began in 2008. The number of fatalities is still uncertain, but a Gaza civil defense chief reported a death toll of 300, while the Gaza health ministry cited a figure of 471. IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari criticized media outlets for quickly disseminating what he termed as "unverified claims" by Hamas regarding the death toll: Hagari claimed that it was implausible for Hamas to accurately determine the casualty figures so swiftly after the incident.

The cause of the explosion is disputed. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said the explosion was caused by an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) denied this, saying that "intelligence from multiple sources" shows that the explosion was caused by a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. An Islamic Jihad spokesman denied responsibility. Alleged video proof posted online by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs was later deleted, after its timestamps were revealed to be incorrect; the IDF distanced itself from the video. US President Joe Biden supported Israel's position, citing intelligence from defense officials. Neither account has been independently confirmed, though expert observation noted uncollapsed hospital buildings, some undamaged cars, and the absence of a deep crater, factors not typically consistent with an Israeli air strike and more likely from a rocket fuel and propellant fire.

The IDF released a recording purporting to be an intercepted phone conversation between two Hamas operatives discussing a misfired rocket that was launched from a cemetery in the vicinity of the hospital by Islamic Jihad and landed on a Gaza hospital.

Background

The al-Ahli Arab Hospital, in operation since 1882, was founded by the Church of England's Church Mission Society, and as of the explosion operated as a nonsectarian hospital managed by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem, which reported that it had about 80 beds, and was the only Christian hospital in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of people displaced by the evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip had sought shelter at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital to avoid Israeli airstrikes. The hospital was damaged by Israeli rocket fire late on 14 October, leaving four staff members injured, according to a statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Hospital officials said the the hospital was struck by a roof knocking missile days on Saturday evening, followed by a call from the Israeli army requesting the hospital's evacuation. The army clarified that the initial shells were a warning.

Before the rocket fire on 14 October, the hospital sheltered around 6,000 displaced persons; subsequently many of them fled, with around 1,000 remaining in the courtyard.

On 16 October, Israel ordered at least 20 hospitals in Gaza, including the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, to evacuate. Because of insufficient beds at hospitals already over capacity in the southern Gaza Strip and no means of transporting certain patients, such as newborns in incubators or patients on ventilators, the evacuation orders were widely regarded as impossible to comply with.

Before the explosion at al-Ahli, the World Health Organization said Israel had attacked health facilities in Gaza fifty-one times.

Explosion and responsibility

The first public mentions of the explosion occurred at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time (UTC+03:00).

The number of persons killed in the explosion, as well as the cause of the explosion, has not been independently verified.

Palestinian accounts

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claim that at least 500 people were killed in the blast, and blamed an Israeli airstrike. The director of the Al-Shifa Hospital reported that around 350 injured people were brought to his hospital by both ambulances and personal cars.

Hosam Naoum, the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, declined to attribute responsibility for the explosion, saying that priests were not investigators.

Israeli accounts

The Israeli Defense Forces said the cause of the blast was a misfired rocket targeting the Israeli city of Haifa and launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a Palestinian militant group allied with Hamas. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that intelligence indicated that PIJ had launched a barrage of rockets near the hospital, and shared drone-collected aerial photography that he said was inconsistent with Israeli munitions. The IDF also published audio that it says contains intercepted discussions among militants saying that their misfired rocket caused the explosion. An Islamic Jihad spokesman denied responsibility. On October 18, the IDF released drone footage, which it said showed the hospital before and after the explosion. The annotated video showed burned vehicles in the hospital parking lot, and noted the apparent lack of a crater or significant structural damage to surrounding buildings. The IDF said these attributes were inconsistent with the aftermath of Israeli munition strikes.

Following the explosion, the official Israel Twitter account published a statement saying that the attack was the result of an enemy rocket. Attached to the tweet was footage, presumed to be proof of the rocket coming from Gaza. However, Aric Toler, a journalist on the visual investigations teams of the The New York Times, noted that the listed timestamps on the video were at least 40 minutes after the explosion was known to have occurred. Shortly after, the Israeli government Twitter account edited the tweet, removing the video from it. The IDF said it was not involved with the video, and attributed it to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

U.S. intelligence

U.S. President Joe Biden supported the Israeli account of events, and referred to Pentagon intelligence sources that indicate the explosion was caused by an Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) misfire. U.S. officials said that it had "high confidence" based on signals intelligence, that PIJ was responsible. Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the United States National Security Council, stated that "While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday." Other U.S. intelligence officials concurred, adding the analysis was still preliminary and investigations would continue.

Independent analysis

According to The Economist, "Some open-intelligence analysts posited that it happened when a Palestinian rocket exploded mid-air—perhaps intercepted by Israeli air-defence systems—and the warhead fell onto the hospital." BBC Verify reported that while there is no overall consensus, one expert said that the specifics of the damage were not consistent with an Israeli air strike.

Independent open source intelligence (OSINT) groups and analysts interviewed by The Telegraph said, based on initial evidence, that the explosion was likely caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket fired inside Gaza. GeoConfirmed, a group of volunteer geolocators, analyzed footage of the explosion from multiple different sources and claimed the “geolocation and timing of the footage is conclusive” but clarified it was only in a geolocation aspect. Evan Hill, an OSINT investigator for the Washington Post, agreed that the initial evidence indicates a rocket misfire. The Independent cited several OSINT analysts who analyzed images and footage of the blast zone; they found that the evidence was inconsistent with an airstrike and that the explosion was likely caused by "a rocket motor failure".

India Today's own OSINT Team analyzed the footage and images of the explosion as well as the aftermath as well as comparing the explosion site to previous aerial bombings by Israel. India Today claimed that the visual evidence does not match an aerial bombing by Israel but a more detailed investigation would be needed for a conclusive verdict.

Bellingcat citing Marc Garlasco stated that the impact does not appear to be consistent with the 500, 1000 or 2000-pound bombs used in Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs).

Reactions

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning following the deadly event and canceled a planned meeting with US President Joe Biden. Biden stated that he was "outraged and deeply saddened by the explosion", but did not immediately attribute blame for the incident, stating instead that the US would investigate the event. Biden subsequently said at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that, "Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you". Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the explosion as "horrible" and "unacceptable", but did not assign blame. The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, condemned the alleged attack. The secretary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres, said that he was "horrified by the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in a strike on a hospital". UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, condemned the "totally unacceptable" and "horrific" strike and demanded accountability. Médecins Sans Frontières said it was "horrified" by the "Israeli bombing", and called it a "massacre." The Red Cross was "shocked and horrified" by the reports.

Hezbollah said the blast was an Israeli "massacre" and called for a "day of rage" on 18 October against Israel and Biden's pending visit to the Middle East. Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey also condemned the alleged attack, while Qatar condemned what they described as "a dangerous escalation". Saudi Arabia condemned "the forces of the occupation" for the alleged attack, which it described as a "heinous crime". Russia and the United Arab Emirates called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. The King of Jordan, Abdullah II, said that the Middle East was "on the brink of falling into the abyss" amid fears that the conflict could escalate into a wider war involving other armed groups. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi vowed a "harsh response" to what happened.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned Palestinian Islamic Jihad, writing, "Shame on the vile terrorists in Gaza who wilfully spill the blood of the innocent." Herzog said that accusations that Israel caused the blast were "a 21st-century blood libel." On 16 October 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office published a post on X quoting his own speech in the Knesset and saying, "This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle." The post was deleted after the massacre at the Gaza hospital in the face of criticism for its language, which some called "genocidal".

The explosion sparked protests in a number of countries, including Canada, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Yemen. In Ramallah and other cities in the West Bank, protestors chanted against Mahmoud Abbas and threw stones, leading to police using tear gas and stun grenades in an attempt to disperse protestors. Thousands of protestors marched outside the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul to protest against the war, and in Jordan, protestors attempted to storm the Israeli embassy. The US and French embassies in Beirut also faced protests aimed at their support for Israel.

A quadrilateral summit between King Abdullah II, Mahmoud Abbas, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Joe Biden was canceled after Jordan annulled it and Abbas withdrew from it.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Egypt, Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria and Libya condemned the explosions as attacks, and accused Israeli forces of bombing the hospital. Saudi Foreign Ministry vehemently denounced the explosions as airstrikes, calling it a "heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces by bombing Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza" and demanded a global condemnation of "Israeli criminal practices."

UAE condemned the explosions as Israeli attacks, and demanded "immediate cessation of hostilities". Turkish President Erdogan denounced the bombing as "the latest example of Israeli attacks devoid of the most basic human values." African Union Commision head denounced Israel for what they called a "war crime" and demanded that other countries stop what they said was Israeli aggression.

US president Joe Biden, upon landing in Israel and saying he was outraged and saddened by the attack, said that from what he had seen "it appears as though it was done by the other team". US officials later said their intelligence indicated a PIJ rocket was responsible.

See also

• October 2023 UNRWA school airstrike
• Al-Shati refugee camp airstrike
• Jabalia camp market airstrike