On 17 October 2023, an explosion occurred in the car park of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City occupied by a tent city housing displaced people fleeing the Israeli intense aerial bombing campaign.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported 471 fatalities and 342 injuries; US intelligence estimates casualties between 100-300.

In the hours after the blast, doctors working at al-Ahli held a press conference amongst the bodies of those killed in the blast. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta stated, ‘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’.

Israel revendication, then denial and hasbara

Initially, a top aide for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hananya Naftali, took responsibility for the attack, stating in a tweet: “Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza. A multiple number of terrorists are dead. It’s heartbreaking that Hamas is launching rockets from hospitals, Mosques, schools and using civilians as human shields.” The tweet was quickly deleted, however, and a new Israeli version emerged.

Israel denies it's responsabily and rejects on Hamas : Israeli officials claimed the blast was due to a misfired rocket from Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). They pointed to video footage showing a mid-air explosion they allege was responsible.

IDF false audio recording

On October 18,, IDF released an audio recording purportedly containing an intercepted conversation between two Hamas operatives saying that a misfired rocket launched by PIJ caused the explosion. Channel 4 News reported on a forensic analysis of the alleged Hamas operative audio released by the IDF, concluding that it was digitally manipulated. Two Arabic language journalists said that the recording did not appear authentic, because the "language, accent, dialect, syntax and tone" were not credible. Channel 4 News also reported on a preliminary audio assessment performed by a sonic analysis company called Earshot, which concluded that the audio recording had been edited to fuse two channels that were recorded separately, one for each speaker.

Palestinian authorities and local reports attribute the explosion to an Israeli airstrike.

Independant investiation

Forensic Analysis:

Analysis disputes the Israeli claim, suggesting that footage shows an Israeli interceptor, not a misfired Palestinian rocket. The explosion’s trajectory and timing do not align with Israel's explanation. Open-source footage analysis confirmed that the seventeen rockets fired from Gaza had burned out mid-flight, making them unlikely to cause the hospital blast.

Evidence and Verification:

Investigations by the New York Times and the Washington Post corroborated that the footage presented by Israel showed an interceptor rather than a misfired Experts identified the explosion’s altitude and trajectory, concluding it was an Israeli interceptor operating outside Gaza.

Context of Israeli Attacks on Medical Facilities:

Four days before the explosion, Israel ordered evacuations of hospitals in northern Gaza, including al-Ahli. WHO react to this international law violation by a statement, on October 14 : "tens of thousands of displaced people in northern Gaza are seeking refuge in open spaces in or around hospitals, treating them as havens from violence as well as to protect the facilities from potential attacks. Their lives, too, are at risk when health facilities are bombed. There are verified reports of deaths of health care workers and destruction of health facilities, which denies civilians the basic human right of life-saving health care and is prohibited under International Humanitarian Law.WHO calls for Israel to immediately reverse evacuation orders to hospitals in northern Gaza, and calls for the protection of health facilities, health workers, patients, and civilians. WHO also reiterates its calls for the immediate and safe delivery of medical supplies, fuel, clean water, food, and other humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, where life-saving assistance – including WHO health supplies that arrived earlier today – is currently awaiting entry"

It was later confirmed by the Archibishop of Jerusalem (Al Ahli hospital is an Anglican Christian health infrastructure) in a press conference that Israeli forces targeted the hospital’s cancer treatment ward on 14 October.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recorded 51 attacks on medical infrastructure in Gaza in the ten days prior to the explosion.

Sources

Human Right Watch "Gaza: Findings on October 17 al-Ahli Hospital Explosion. Evidence Points to Misfired Rocket but Full Investigation Needed

BBC first investigation (by footage analysis and with US and UK weapon experts) source

Forensic architecture investigation published on February 15, 2024.

**Forensic Architecture Conclusion's report **: "While what happened at al-Ahli remains inconclusive, it is clear that in the aftermath of the explosion, the Israeli military launched an aggressive disinformation campaign. As it stands, Israel has yet to provide any conclusive visual evidence to support the claim that the source of the deadly blast at al-Ahli hospital was a Hamas or PIJ rocket. It is also worth noting that four days before the explosion at al-Ahli, on 13 October, Israel ordered the evacuation of all northern hospitals, including al-Ahli; and the following day, an Israeli strike on the hospital’s cancer treatment ward was confirmed by Al-Haq (Israel is known to issue warning strikes prior to full scale attacks). This incident was hardly an anomaly. In the ten days prior, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 51 attacks on medical infrastructure in Gaza. By aggregating news reports from Al-Jazeera, Alaraby, and Shehab News since 7 October, our analysis shows that Israeli intimidation and attacks on medical infrastructure, including hospitals, has been systematic and unrelenting, following a consistent pattern defined by attacks on the surrounding area, direct targeting, siege, and occupation."

Channel 4 reporting and first investigation.

NYT investigation