A senior European intelligence official has reported that 10-50 deaths were caused by the blast at the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, contrary to the 300-500 deaths first reported by terror group Hamas.
Other sources had questioned the validity of the numbers early on that initially came from the Ministry of Health in Gaza including a spokesperson for the Israeli army, Jonathan Cornices who asked “Where are all the bodies?” Le Point reports.
The source said to Agence France-Presse (AFP), on the condition of anonymity: “There are not 200 or 500 dead, but rather a few dozen, probably between 10 and 50” and that “Israel probably did not [conduct the attack]” according to “serious leads” of intelligence available to them.
Additionally, the IDF has released drone footage showing that the blast hit the parking lot next to the hospital and that there is “very limited damage to the parking lot itself,” The Times of Israel reports.
It is also apparent that the blast did not create a crater in the lot, strongly indicating it could not have been an IDF strike.
There had been initial confusion over what or who had caused the blast, with Hamas claiming it was an airstrike from the IDF while the IDF claimed it was a misfire from Hamas.
As of Wednesday, new intelligence communications intercepts by the US reportedly showed the explosion was caused by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“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,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.
