18 Oct 2023

Claims & counter claims after hospital bombing in Gaza

From Checkpoint, 5:13 pm on 18 October 2023

Claims and counter claims after a massive explosion at the Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians died after a suspected rocket hit the building.

It was packed with the sick and injured as well as families sheltering in the hospital where they thought they would be safe.

Healthcare workers are also among those killed.

Hamas insists it was an Israeli missile strike, but the Israeli Defence Force claims it was a rocket that misfired from the Gaza side of the border.

The IDF says it has intelligence indicating the rocket came from Islamic Jihad, a militant group operating in Gaza.

Islamic Jihad denies any involvement. Regardless of who is responsible, hundreds of Palestinians remain buried beneath the rubble of the hospital.

CNN International correspondent Rafael Romo is in Tel Aviv.