Israel blames Islamic Jihad for hospital strike, but says rocket only hit parking lot

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday claimed that the group Islamic Jihad was responsible for a strike on the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.

The alleged strike, which Hamas blamed on Israel, prompted major demonstrations and Israeli and U.S. installations across the Middle East, including in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon. The exact events of the strike remain unclear as of press time.

An IDF After Action Review outlined Jerusalem's account of events, insisting that a rocket misfire struck the hospital parking lot and that Hamas ultimately used the episode to spread anti-Israel propaganda.

"At 6:15PM, a barrage of rockets was fired by Hamas at Israel. At 6:59PM a barrage of around 10 rockets was fired by Islamic Jihad from a nearby cemetery. It was at the time,  6:59PM — when there were reports of an explosion at the hospital in Gaza City," it reads. "According to our intelligence, Hamas checked the reports, understood it was an Islamic Jihad rocket that had misfired — and decided to launch a global media campaign to hide what really happened."

"They went as far as inflating the number of casualties. They understood, with absolute certainty, that it was a rocket misfired by Islamic Jihad — that damaged the hospital," the statement continued. "Analysis of our aerial footage confirms that there was no direct hit of the hospital itself. The only location damaged, is outside the hospital in the parking lot where we can see signs of burning, no cratering and no structural damage to nearby buildings."

The IDF further stated that no fire from the Israeli side struck the hospital and that they had confirmed that rockets launched from Gaza were fired near the complex. They further pointed to communications between terrorists about the alleged rocket misfire that they say included a reference to the hospital.

The review further condemned media outlets for running headlines with "Hamas' lies" and lamented that many headlines blaming Israel for the strike remained up.

The alleged attack prompted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to cancel his planned Wednesday appearance at a summit in Jordan with President Joe Biden in protest. Jordanian officials later canceled the summit on Tuesday evening.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.