The attack on a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of people is “a crime” and an “act of dehumanization,” Russia’s diplomatic spokeswoman said on Wednesday, asking Israel, which denies any responsibility, to prove its innocence.
“We see a desire right now [por parte de Israel] to distance themselves from any responsibility. If this attempt constitutes a serious intention (…) to prove his innocence (…), then the facts must be presented,” Maria Zakharova argued.
The Russian spokeswoman asked the United States and Israel to provide satellite images to investigate the origins of the attack, accusing Western governments of giving the impression in their responses that “the attack happened by itself.”
Russia called the explosion a “crime” and an “act of dehumanization.” “As far as our assessment is concerned, we certainly qualify such an act as a crime, as an act of dehumanization,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik radio.
This came on the day Israel again denied responsibility for the hospital explosion in Gaza, saying it had evidence it was caused by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
“The evidence, which we share with all of you, confirms that the explosion at a hospital in Gaza was caused by the firing of a failed Islamic Jihad rocket,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a news conference.
A failed rocket launch by the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad hit Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.
IAF images from the hospital area before and after the failed rocket launch by the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad: pic.twitter.com/AvCAkQULAf
– Israeli Defense Forces (@IDF) October 18, 2023
Hagari told journalists that there was no structural damage to the buildings surrounding the hospital, nor any craters that could indicate the existence of an airstrike.
The spokesman also accused Hamas of increasing the number of victims of the explosion and said the terrorist group could not have known so quickly what had caused the explosion.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry published on social media an alleged audio clip of a telephone conversation between two Hamas members discussing how al-Ahli al-Arabi was hit by a misfired rocket fired from Gaza.
During the call, one of the members said he had never seen a rocket fail like this and that it was fired from a cemetery behind the hospital.
Hamas terrorists in their own voices:
Listen to the conversation between Hamas operatives as they discuss the failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital on October 17, 2023 pic.twitter.com/PUUuqE2Imu
– Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@IsraelMFA) October 18, 2023
The Israeli army spokesman said its conclusions are based “on information services, operational systems and aerial imagery, which have been cross-checked,” according to the French agency AFP.
Biden says the attack appears to have been carried out by Hamas
In Tel Aviv, Joe Biden said in a statement to journalists without the right to ask questions that Hamas has committed “evil atrocities that make the Islamic State appear rational,” but that he knows the terrorist group “does not represent the entire Palestinian people. and has brought them only suffering.”
The President of the United States also expressed “deep sorrow and outrage at yesterday’s explosion at the hospital in Gaza.” “Based on what I saw, it looks like it was done by the other team [Hamas], not for you. But there are many people who are not sure, so we have to overcome many things,” he added.
The explosion, for which Israel and the Palestinians blame each other, left hundreds dead and sparked international condemnation and demonstrations across the Muslim world.
The Islamist movement Hamas, which is in power in Gaza, accused Israel of being behind Tuesday night’s attack, which the Israeli army attributed to a failed rocket attack by Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group, 11 days after it began . unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas on Israel.
Authorities in the Gaza Strip said at least 500 people were killed in the attack on the Anglican Al Ahli Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
Source: DN
