Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has shared a recording of an alleged conversation between Hamas operators about the recent hospital bombing in Gaza.
According to Palestinian officials, hundreds have been killed in the blast. As Israeli airstrikes were blamed, the IDF vehemently denied the allegations.
The IDF has now released a recording in an attempt to confirm that the bombing took place due to a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch.
In the audio, one of the Hamas operatives says that Palestinians launched the rocket from a cemetery behind the hospital and that “it misfired and fell on them.” They added that it looked “like local shrapnel and not like Israeli shrapnel.”
Sharing the audio on X, the IDF wrote, “Islamic Jihad struck a Hospital in Gaza—the IDF did not. Listen to the terrorists as they realize this themselves:”
The IDF denies involvement
The IDF earlier said in a statement that “an analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit.”
“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza,” the IDF added.
Previously, at a press briefing on Wednesday morning, October 18, spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said, “The IDF has concluded an After Action Review and can confirm that the Islamic Jihad was responsible for the strike on the hospital in Gaza City.”
Ministry of Health in Gaza holds press conference
The Ministry of Health in Gaza held a press conference after the blast at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital. They stood among corpses and remains of the victims of the attack.
It is being claimed that more than 500 people died. “We were performing surgery at the Baptist hospital when a strong explosion occurred, and the ceiling fell on the operating room.
This is a massacre,” Ghassan Abu Sitta, a doctor associated with Doctors Without Borders, said during the briefing, according to an Anadolu correspondent.