U.S. officials on Wednesday said early intelligence suggested that the blast at or near the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday was caused by a Palestinian militant group.
The New York Times reported that the deduction is largely driven by satellite and other infrared data, as well as an analysis of open-source video footage that showed the launch not coming from Israeli military positions.
In addition, intercepted communications between Hamas officials and other Palestinian fighters around the immediate vicinity of the blast appeared to admit as much.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson publicly confirmed on X that the U.S. does not currently believe Israel Defense Forces is responsible.
"While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday," Watson posted Wednesday.
A senior Department of Defense official rebuffed Watson's comments to the Times, arguing that launch data collected by infrared sensors makes the U.S. "fairly confident" of its current position.
Still, other anonymous U.S. officials warned the paper that the intelligence was still preliminary and that evidence was still being collected.
Israel has maintained that the blast was caused by a malfunctioning rocket fired by the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas. The group has denied the claim, and Hamas has instead blamed Israel.
The extent of the casualties and damage to the hospital is currently unclear. Hamas initially claimed that the hospital was destroyed and nearly 500 were killed.
However, newly released footage showed the blast's damage largely centered around the hospital's parking lot. It could indicate the actual number of casualties is much lower than what was reported by Gaza's health ministry.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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