First things first. An explosion occurred in a courtyard and parking lot adjacent to Al-Ahli Hospital, run by a Baptist church trust, killed over 500 people including children, a figure yet to be verified by the Gaza Health Ministry.
The deadliest strike or blast was widely condemned by Jerusalem Heads of Churches, Arab countries, and European nations demanding a probe and holding accountability behind the gruesome act.
The Shifa Hospital general director Mohammed Abu Selmia told the Associated Press (AP) that he feared over 250 dead in the deadly explosion.
The Episcopal (Anglican) Church Hospital (Al Ahli Arab Hospital) in Gaza had hundreds of medical staff, patients, and civilians taking refuge under Church protection. It’s been impossible to carry out any independent verification.
A number of social media accounts posted a video and claimed that Hamas committed the attack while Israel did not attack any hospital.
Stop with the propaganda...
— Denise (@Likeshesays) October 17, 2023
Israel did NOT attack any hospital. This was a heavy rocket that failed to launch and fell on the Gazans.
30% of their launches are failed. pic.twitter.com/MkppjxWty8
Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the Gaza hospital tragedy, on which US President Joe Biden already announced the verdict that it was committed by their other party without naming Hamas, on his wartime trip to Tel Aviv.
This original video was shared by various social media accounts claiming that the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital air strike in Gaza was caused by the ‘failure of a rocket fired by Hamas’.
כך נראה שיגור כושל של הגי'אהד האיסלמי לתוך הרצועה pic.twitter.com/bVE53OUSUD
— איתי בלומנטל Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) August 6, 2022
SAMAA Digital did a fact check and found that the video was originally posted in 2022 and apparently has no lineage with the war between Israel-Hamas that has killed nearly 5,000 people on both sides of the international border.
Itay Blumental, a military correspondent of Israel Television Channel 11 and Israel Public Broadcasting, originally posted the video in 2022.
IDF version of Al-Ahli hospital explosion
Israel Defense Forces International Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricu and Israel Air Force have blamed Hamas for the explosion.
“We have a little fake incident that Hamas has blown out of proportion and unwilling or lazy journalists – or unknowing or lazy journalists – have blown out of proportion and amplified,” Jonathan Conricu told Sky News Australia.
“Do you really think that this should warrant an international investigation? How about finding hostages? How about getting access to our civilians and men and women and children that are being held in Hamas custody? Isn’t that what should be an international priority?
“Frankly, I think it is ridiculous, and I think this issue should have been laid to rest long ago.”
A failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 18, 2023
IAF footage from the area around the hospital before and after the failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization: pic.twitter.com/AvCAkQULAf
The IDF Chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, in a statement about the explosion in the hospital in Gaza: "the terrorists in Gaza not only murdered Israeli citizens, they also killed residents of Gaza" pic.twitter.com/Dm4bRdiLre
— איתי בלומנטל Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) October 18, 2023
Al-Ahli Arab Hospital Location in Gaza
The hospital is located in Gaza’s Old City between the Shujaiya and Zeitoun areas, situated less than 3km from al-Shifa Hospital—largest public hospital in the enclave of 2.3 million people.
The hospital is situated near a number of historical sites in Gaza, including the Great Omari Mosque, known as Gaza’s Great Mosque and St Philip the evangelist chapel and St Porphyrius Church.
Al-Ahli is one of the oldest hospitals in Gaza founded in 1882 serving over 45,000 patients each year.
