[중동전쟁]
White House: Israel is not responsible
The Arab world maintains its stance of “this is what happened”
The United States concluded that the explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, which occurred on the 17th, was due to an accidental rocket launch by a Palestinian armed group.
Adrian Watson, spokesman for the U.S. White House National Security Council, said on the 18th (local time), “The U.S. government assesses that Israel is not responsible for the explosion that killed hundreds of civilians at Al-Ahlia Arab Hospital.” The United States publicly supported Israel’s claim that the explosion was caused by an accidental rocket launcher by another Palestinian armed group, Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Previously, President Joe Biden also visited Israel and said, “(The hospital explosion) appears to be the result of a rocket being mistakenly launched by a terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.”
Spokesperson Watson said, “Our assessment is based on various information, missile movement trajectories, satellite thermal images, and publicly available photos and videos of the incident scene.” A senior U.S. Department of Defense official said on this day, “Based on (rocket) launch data collected through infrared sensors, the United States is fairly confident that the launch (rocket or missile that caused the hospital explosion) was not the responsibility of the Israeli military,” according to the New York Times. (NYT) reported.
Palestine and neighboring Arab countries, which placed emphasis on the ‘Israeli military action’ immediately after the disaster, have not changed their position. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, called for an immediate ceasefire, saying, “Israeli forces have caused ‘genocide.’” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who attended the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, also said, “The Israeli regime is intentionally targeting civilians. “Only the Israeli military owns the bomb used in the attack on the Gaza hospital,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.
President Biden spoke on the phone with President Abdul Fattah Sisi of Egypt, which borders the Gaza Strip, on Air Force One, a private plane returning to the United States after a visit to Israel, and sent 20 trucks loaded with relief supplies such as medicine, drinking water, and food to Egypt. They announced that they had agreed to send it to Gaza. Transportation is expected to begin as early as the 20th. This is the first time humanitarian aid has been provided since Israel’s complete blockade of the Gaza Strip on the 9th.
“The number of deaths was around 50, not 471.”
Attempted drone attack on US military base in Iraq
Hezbollah fires missiles at Israel
Amid growing concerns about the escalation of the Middle East war due to the explosion at Al-Ahlia Arab Hospital in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, the United States quickly announced on the 18th (local time) that “Israel is not responsible.” This is an official refutation of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry’s claim that it was “genocide by Israel.” Western experts are also weighing the possibility of a rocket explosion by a Palestinian armed group. Some point out that the Gaza Health Ministry’s announcement that there were 471 deaths was likely exaggerated.
Regarding the explosion at Al-Ahlia Arab Hospital in the Gaza Strip, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Air Force One on his private plane returning home that day, “If I didn’t have faith in the evidence, I wouldn’t have said, ‘There is no possibility of an Israeli airstrike.’” He said.
As President Biden said, Western experts are analyzing that the misdetonation is weighted according to analysis of various intelligence evidence and incident site photos and videos released by the Israeli military and others.
According to photos and video of the scene taken by a drone released by the Israeli military on the 18th, the explosion pit created in the parking lot of this hospital is only a few tens of centimeters in depth and diameter. A hole with a depth and diameter of 5 to 10 meters created by Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), which are mainly used in Israeli air strikes, was not found. A video released on social media showed one of the rockets launched from southern Gaza City toward Israel rising rapidly before exploding, followed by an explosion at a hospital moments later. It was claimed that a rocket shot down by Israel’s air defense interceptor network ‘Iron Dome’ fell on a hospital. However, experts believed that the likelihood of being shot down by Iron Dome was low.
Hospital buildings around the parking lot also had their exterior walls scorched and windows broken by the impact, but no damage was visible from the air raid. Bellingcat, a British investigative media outlet, also analyzed on this day, “Damage from the explosion was confirmed only in the parking lot, not the hospital building.” The actual victims appear to have been concentrated among refugees sleeping in the hospital parking lot. NBC News reported, “After the explosion, pictures were posted on social media showing bodies tangled and limbs scattered in the hospital parking lot. “A school bag was placed next to the blood-soaked blanket and pillow,” he said.
Blake Spendley, a U.S. intelligence analyst, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), “Because JDAM maximizes the energy of the explosion, a large fire does not occur (when it explodes),” and “(the hospital parking lot) shows characteristics of a fire rather than an explosion.” He went on to claim, “Judging from the videos and photos from the scene, the number of deaths is approximately 50.”
Although evidence suggests that there is a high possibility that the hospital explosion was a mistake, anti-Israel and anti-American protests and attacks continued in the Arab world. On this day, Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), another armed group that was designated by Israel as the perpetrator of the accidental bombing, did not issue any rebuttal. Regardless of whether it is true or not, it appears that the decision was made to increase the Arab world’s anger toward Israel and the West.
The U.S. Central Command in charge of the Middle East issued a statement on the 18th saying that there were two attempted drone attacks targeting U.S. bases in western and northern Iraq. There were three drones in total, and one of the two drones shot down exploded at Al-Asad Air Base in the west, causing injuries. The people behind the attack are believed to be local Iraqi armed groups supported by Iran.
Iraqi militants have refrained from attacking local U.S. bases and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad since the ceasefire last year, but resumed their offensives as tensions increased due to the war in the Middle East. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which designated the 18th as a ‘day of rage’, also launched several missiles towards northern Israel on this day. Protests were also held sporadically in Egypt, Turkmenistan, Morocco, Libya, Iran, and Algeria.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.