Hospital blast in Gaza Strip: CNN discovers important detail
CNN uncovered an important detail in the October 17 strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip (Getty Images)
Journalists conducted their own investigation and found that the explosion at a hospital in the city of Gaza likely occurred due to a missile, rather than an Israeli airstrike, according to CNN.
Indeed, the CNN analysis suggests that the rocket launched from the Gaza Strip exploded in the air, and "the blast at the hospital was the result of part of the rocket landing at the hospital complex."
"I believe this happened - the rocket malfunctioned and didn't land intact. It probably, for some reason, broke up in the air, and the rocket's casing crashed into the parking lot. There, fuel remnants ignited and set ablaze the cars and other fuel in the hospital, causing the significant explosion we witnessed," said CNN's Marcus Shiller, a European rocket expert who worked on the analysis for NATO and the EU.
Furthermore, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton stated that the airburst corresponded to a malfunctioning rocket, adding that the light streak matched a rocket burning fuel in an attempt to reach altitude.
At the same time, journalists emphasize that without the ability to access the site and gather evidence from the ground, no conclusion can be definitive.
Gaza hospital blast
On October 17, Hamas claimed that Israel struck the Al-Ahli hospital in the Gaza Strip. The militants alleged about 500 civilian casualties and hundreds of injuries among those who were in the hospital.
Israel, in response, denied the accusations and assured that it was not involved in the strike on the civilian hospital. The IDF claimed that the explosion was a result of the failed launch of a rocket by the Islamic Jihad.
Additionally, on October 18, an IDF spokesperson said that there was no direct strike on the Gaza hospital. According to their statement, it was a misfire of an Islamic Jihad rocket that did not hit the hospital but landed in a parking lot nearby.
