The Israeli Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari addressed the media about the recent hospital strike in Gaza city. According to him, rockets fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group passed by the hospital at the time of the strike. The strike hit the facility’s parking lot. The hospital strike resulted in a high death toll, which prompted condemnation from many countries on the eve of U.S. President Joseph Biden’s visit to Israel.
Another spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, informed CNN that the military intercepted a conversation in which militants acknowledged a misfire. He said that the military would release a recording of the conversation. However, Islamic Jihad denied that any of its rockets were involved in the hospital blast, saying it did not have any activity in or around Gaza City at that time. Iran-backed Islamic Jihad took part in the Hamas-led assault on Israel and has fired numerous salvoes of rockets into Israel.
Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations reported that an Israeli strike had hit one of its schools where at least 4,000 people were sheltering. The agency said six people were killed, and dozens injured by the strike. Israel’s military said it was looking into that report.
While briefing reporters, Hagari cast doubt on the Palestinian death count in the hospital strike. He claimed that there was no direct hit on the facility, and military drone footage showed “a kind of hit in the parking lot.” He also mentioned that the military did have an Israeli air force operation in the area around the time of the hospital blast. “But it was with a different kind of ammunition that does not fit the footage that we have (of) the hospital.” On the death count, Hagari said: “I don’t know how many people (were) hit here, even. Nobody can verify it yet.”
The news of the hospital strike and the high death toll has sparked international outrage, with Russia and the United Arab Emirates demanding a U.N. Security Council meeting. Clashes have also erupted in the West Bank.