Israel’s Defence Forces have released an audio clip which they claim shows Hamas members confirming a misfiring rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad was responsible for the devastation of a Gaza hospital overnight.

The clip was published amid a torrent of fury from the Arab world and Israel’s foes over the explosion, with Iran declaring last night that Israel’s ‘time is up’ and Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah calling for a ‘day of rage’ after hundreds were killed.

‘They are saying (the rocket) belongs to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It’s from us?’ one alleged Hamas member asks in the clip provided by Israel’s military intelligence. 

‘It looks like it,’ the other responded. ‘It misfired and fell on them… God bless – couldn’t it have found another place to explode?’ 

Hamas is a political and militant organisation, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad is an independent jihadist group – but both are in opposition to Israel.   

The alleged recording was one of several pieces of evidence Israel has used to deny its involvement in the hospital blast, which Gaza Health Ministry claimed resulted in around 500 deaths.

Israel also released a radar map of Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket attacks, as well as a video of the moment a rocket purportedly streaking towards Israel from Gaza appears to suffer a problem and suddenly changes course before flaming out. 

In the darkness, it is not clear whether the rocket broke apart or simply lost its trajectory.  

But moments later, a pair of explosions erupt in the city below – the result of what Israel claims was the rocket falling back to Earth and striking the al-Ahli Hosptial in Gaza City. 

‘This is the tragic result of firing rockets from densely populated neighborhoods,’ the IDF said.

Speaking this morning, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed Hamas knew the hospital blast was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket but launched a ‘global media campaign’ to blame Israel.

He displayed a series of satellite images and intelligence documents he said showed Israel was not responsible for the hospital blast. 

The rocket is seen streaking across the night sky

It suddenly appeared to change course with its engines burning brightly

Israel’s Defence Forces have released a video they claim shows how a misfiring Gaza rocket was responsible for the devastation of a Palestinian hospital which killed hundreds of people overnight

The rocket suddenly flames out and goes dark but it is unclear whether it broke apart

The rocket suddenly flames out and goes dark but it is unclear whether it broke apart

Moments later, two explosions erupted in the city below

Moments later, two explosions erupted in the city below

Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari speaks to the press from The Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defence, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023

Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari speaks to the press from The Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defence, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023

Spokesman Hagari told a press briefing that at the time of the incident, the Israeli army was not conducting air operations near the hospital and the rockets that hit the building did not match theirs

Spokesman Hagari told a press briefing that at the time of the incident, the Israeli army was not conducting air operations near the hospital and the rockets that hit the building did not match theirs

Speaking this morning, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed Hamas knew the hospital blast was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket but launched a 'global media campaign' to blame Israel

Speaking this morning, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed Hamas knew the hospital blast was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket but launched a ‘global media campaign’ to blame Israel

A woman reacts while holding a pillow as she stands amidst debris outside the site of the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza on October 18, 2023

A woman reacts while holding a pillow as she stands amidst debris outside the site of the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza on October 18, 2023

People react at the area of Al-Ahli hospital, where hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other, in Gaza City, October 18, 2023

People react at the area of Al-Ahli hospital, where hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other, in Gaza City, October 18, 2023

Pictured: The burning hospital building after the strike on Tuesday night

Pictured: The burning hospital building after the strike on Tuesday night 

‘They understood with absolute certainty that it was a rocket misfired by Islamic Jihad that damaged the hospital,’ Hagari said.

‘Unlike Hamas, the IDF launched an immediate examination’ of the attack, he said, going onto explain there was no IDF fire ‘from land, sea or air that hit the hospital’.

‘I can confirm that an analysis of the IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli Al Mahdi Hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit.

‘Intelligence from a few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.

‘I repeat, this is the responsibility of Islamic Jihad that killed innocents in the hospital in Gaza.’

Hagari added that there was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli hospital and no craters consistent with an air strike. 

He concluded that some 450 rockets fired from Gaza have fallen short and landed inside the strip in the last 11 days. These claims could not be independently verified. 

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN that Israel ‘categorically’ do not intentionally strike any sensitive facilities, including hospitals.

‘We did not strike that, and that the intelligence that we have suggests that it was a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad,’ he said.

‘I want to add, categorically, that we do not intentionally strike any sensitive facilities, and definitely not hospitals,’ he said. 

The incident has sparked a venomous blame game, with a spokesman for Islamic Jihad accusing the IDF of ‘trying to cover for the horrifying crime and massacre they committed against civilians.’

Gaza’s Health Ministry said between 200-300 people are thought to have been killed in the hospital explosion, with the death toll expected to rise. 

Hellish video taken from the hospital, which was sheltering around 6,000 Palestinians and is funded by the Anglican Church, shows fire engulfing the building and the dozens of bodies strewn over the ground, many of them young children.

Ambulances and private cars rushed some 350 casualties from the al-Ahli blast to Gaza City’s main hospital, al-Shifa, already overwhelmed with wounded from other strikes, said its director, Mohammed Abu Selmia. 

Israel released a series of satellite images and intelligence documents which they said showed evidence a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket was to blame for the hospital blast

Israel released a series of satellite images and intelligence documents which they said showed evidence a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket was to blame for the hospital blast

The Israel Defence Forces shared raw footage, revealing the moment a rocket misfired and exploded at the same time the Gaza hospital was hit

The Israel Defence Forces shared raw footage, revealing the moment a rocket misfired and exploded at the same time the Gaza hospital was hit

Wounded Palestinians wait for treatment in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli hospital following an explosion there on Tuesday

Wounded Palestinians wait for treatment in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli hospital following an explosion there on Tuesday 

Palestinians at Al Shifa hospital mourn over the body of a family member after the al-Ahli hospital explosion on Tuesday

Palestinians at Al Shifa hospital mourn over the body of a family member after the al-Ahli hospital explosion on Tuesday 

The scene of destruction at Al Ahli hospital after an air strike in Gaza City on Tuesday

The scene of destruction at Al Ahli hospital after an air strike in Gaza City on Tuesday 

‘We are squeezing five beds into a single tiny room. We need equipment, we need medicine, we need beds, we need everything,’ Mr Abu Selmia said, warning that the fuel supply for the hospital’s generators will run out on Wednesday. 

‘I think Gaza’s medical sector will collapse within hours.’ 

In a press conference at al-Shifa, doctors stood surrounded dead children who had been brought from the stricken hospital, holding some of their faces to the cameras to show the horror that had befallen them.

The head of the World Health Organisation today issued a stark warning, saying the situation in Gaza is ‘spiralling out of control’ while calling for the ‘violence on all sides to stop’ so that Israel’s siege can be lifted and medical supplies let into the enclave. 

‘Every second we wait to get medical aid in, we lose lives,’ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. ‘We need immediate access to start delivering life-saving supplies.’ 

The horrific strike has raised already heightened fears that the Hamas-Israel conflict will engulf the Middle East, with Iran’s foreign minister declaring that the ‘time is over’ for Israel. 

Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist group based in Lebanon, called for ‘a day of unprecedented anger’ against Israel, while Libya’s foreign ministry accused the Jewish state of ‘war crimes and genocide’.

People inspect the area of Al-Ahli hospital where hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other on Wednesday

People inspect the area of Al-Ahli hospital where hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other on Wednesday

Wounded Palestinian children lay at the al-Shifa hospital, following Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City on Tuesday

Wounded Palestinian children lay at the al-Shifa hospital, following Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City on Tuesday 

Israel denied responsibility for the blast at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, claiming it was a rocket misfired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists

Israel denied responsibility for the blast at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, claiming it was a rocket misfired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists

Video from the hospital showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital's grounds strewn with bodies, many of them young children

Video from the hospital showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital’s grounds strewn with bodies, many of them young children

Palestinian paramedic carries a child injured in an air strike at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern of Gaza Strip on Tuesday

Palestinian paramedic carries a child injured in an air strike at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern of Gaza Strip on Tuesday

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, later arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night after the hospital bombing – a remarkable show of unity between two former sworn enemies. 

While there, Amir Abdollahian issued a stark warning to Israel, with the foreign minister tweeting: After the terrible crime of the Zionist regime in the bombing and massacre of more than a thousand innocent women and children in the hospital, the time has come for the global unity of humanity against this fake regime more hated than ISIS and its killing machine. Time is OVER.’ 

The incident has also complicated US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region today, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II cancelling their Arab summit meeting with Biden. 

Within hours of the incident, the White House and Jordan’s government announced the meeting was called off. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to offer condolences over a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital and voice support for Palestinians’ ‘legitimate aspirations,’ the State Department said.

Blinken, who is on a regional crisis tour, spoke by telephone with Abbas late Tuesday after the strike on the Ahli Arab Hospital, hours after meeting him in person in Amman.

The Secretary of State called Abbas ‘to express profound condolences for the civilian lives lost in the explosion’ at the hospital, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Blinken ‘expressed continuing US support for the Palestinian people, stressing that Hamas terrorists do not represent Palestinians or their legitimate aspirations for self-determination and equal measures of dignity, freedom, security and justice,’ Miller said.

Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt and other Arab nations condemned the hospital blast, which is still being investigated.  

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi claimed the hospital explosion was ‘a clear violation of international law… and humanity.’

Now Biden’s only stop is Tel Aviv, where he’s expected to push for allowing critical humanitarian aid into Gaza during meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, which killed 1,400 Israelis.

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