© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Individuals examine the realm of Al-Ahli hospital the place a whole bunch of Palestinians had been killed in a blast that Israeli and Palestinian officers blamed on one another, and the place Palestinians who fled their properties had been sheltering amid the continuing conflic
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. intelligence officers have “excessive confidence” that an explosion at a Gaza hospital final week was brought on by a Palestinian rocket that broke up mid-flight, and never by Israel, a U.S. official stated on Tuesday.
The Hamas-run Gaza well being ministry stated 471 individuals had been killed within the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital on Oct. 17. Palestinians and Arab states stated an Israeli air strike hit the hospital.
Israel stated the blast was brought on by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian militant Islamic Jihad group, which has denied duty.
U.S. President Biden stated a day after the incident, whereas visiting Tel Aviv, that the explosion gave the impression to be the results of an errant rocket fired by a “terrorist group”, echoing Israel’s view.
The New York Instances, NBC Information and different U.S. media reported the U.S. intelligence evaluation earlier on Tuesday, citing a briefing with reporters. The U.S. official declined to be named as the data remained confidential.
The officers stated there was nonetheless uncertainty across the demise toll and the variety of accidents, the New York Instances reported. The officers stated there was little harm to the hospital and the construction didn’t collapse, it reported.
The intelligence evaluation was primarily based on Israeli intercepts of Palestinian teams, publicly obtainable video, communications intercepts offered by the Israelis and pictures of the blast and the aftermath, the officers advised the newspaper.
An unclassified U.S. intelligence report seen by Reuters two days after the blast estimated the demise toll was “most likely on the low finish of the 100 to 300 spectrum” however added that the evaluation could evolve.
