World Leaders Question Hamas Claims on Gaza Hospital Blast

Jerusalem, 18 October, 2023 (TPS) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that based on the evidence he’d seen, the explosion at a Gaza hospital the previous night had been caused by terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, as other world leader questioned Palestinian claims about the incident.

“I’m deeply saddened and outraged by the hospital blast, which appears to be done by the other team—not you,” said Biden, who landed in Israel on Wednesday to show support for Jerusalem’s war effort against Hamas.

However, he added, “many in the world are not sure of that, so there is still a lot of work to be done.”

The White House issued a statement on Tuesday, before Israel presented the conclusions of its investigation into the hospital blast, in which the president said that he had “directed my national security team to continue gathering information about what exactly happened.”

Israel released intercepted Hamas communications confirming the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket which exploded in the parking lot of the Al Alhi Hospital in northern Gaza on Tuesday night.

The blast rocked the hospital as Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired heavy barrages of rockets at southern and central Israel. Alarms sounded in cities including Rishon Lezion, Petach Tikvah, Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan and Bat Yam.

The UN Security Council is due to hold an emergency session on Wednesday to discuss the incident.

British leaders also reacted on Wednesday to the evidence provided by Israel.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly lamented the rush to judgment in an X social media post.

“Last night, too many jumped to conclusions around the tragic loss of life at Al Ahli hospital,” Cleverly wrote.

“Getting this wrong would put even more lives at risk,” he continued. “Wait for the facts, report them clearly and accurately. Cool heads must prevail.”

Cleverly recently visited Israel to show support after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, which claimed at least 1,400 lives and left over 4,000 people wounded.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto called to “punish Hamas” for the hospital bombing.

“We witnessed what happened last night with dismay. The bomb that hit the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinians and wounded the consciences of all of us. The international community must protect innocent civilians and punish Hamas,” tweeted Crosetto.

Israel has been striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip since an October 7 assault by Hamas on Israeli communities near the Gaza border that caught Israelis off-guard. Fighting raged for days as the IDF initially struggled to clear out the terrorists. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed and over 4,400 more injured. At least 199 hostages were taken to Gaza.

During fighting in May, failed rocket launches by Palestinian Islamic Jihad killed four Gaza civilians.