Deadly Gaza Hospital Blast Likely Caused by Palestinian Rocket: U.S. Officials

The United States government is backing Israel's account of the Gaza hospital blast, saying that intelligence suggests a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket caused the destruction

A mysterious blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday quickly escalated tensions in the Near East as Palestinian militants and the Israeli government accused one another of civilian casualties. On Wednesday, United States government officials weighed in to say that Israel's involvement in the deadly incident appears unlikely.

“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,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden commented on the blast during his visit to Israel on Wednesday. “I was deeply sad and outraged by the explosion in Gaza yesterday and based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not [Israel]," he said, citing intel shared by the U.S. Department of Defense. "But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got a lot — we’ve got to overcome a lot of things."

Related: Joe Biden Meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel: 'Americans Are Grieving with You'

The Palestinian Health Authority reported that about 500 people were killed in a strike at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, though the death toll has not been independently verified. The source of the explosion was not immediately clear, with the Israeli government claiming it was caused by a rocket belonging to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group that sympathizes with Hamas.

In a statement to the Times of Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces said: “an analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit.”

“Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza,” the statement added.

Hamas, meanwhile, quickly called the strike "genocide," according to Fox News reporter Trey Yingst.

Related: Gaza Hospitals in 'Complete Chaos' Treating Civilians amid 'Crisis' Situation: Reports

The explosion came amid Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, which began in the wake of terrorist group Hamas' deadly surprise attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7. Israel vowed to defend itself following the attacks, calling for the immediate evacuation of 1.1 million civilians in Gaza City ahead of planned strikes.

The evacuation orders followed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's own announcement that Israel was “putting a complete siege on Gaza," which would mean “no electricity, no food, no water, no gas" for the area, according to a statement posted on X last week.

Many have evacuated to area hospitals, including the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital — the facility that was damaged on Tuesday, The New York Times reports.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) quickly pushed back on reports that they were behind an intentional strike on the hospital, telling Fox News reporter Trey Yingst in a statement: “A hospital is a highly sensitive building and is not an IDF target. The IDF is investigating the source of the explosion and, like always, is prioritizing accuracy and reliability.”

Related: Israeli Father-to-Be Died Preventing Massacre Days After Celebrating First Wedding Anniversary (Exclusive)

Amid airstrikes, hospitals in Gaza are struggling to keep up with an excess of patients and running low on supplies as they try to treat civilians, according to reports. One doctor treating patients at Nasser Hospital — the second-largest in Gaza City — told NBC News that the location has opened "tents" outside of the hospital to treat more patients and that the hospital ultimately had to decide "if these tents will have to be for the critical patients, patient post-op, or the patient who will go after finishing their management."

“This is like a humanity crisis,” Dr. Mohammed Qandil told the outlet, adding: "We are treating civilians — most of the ICU beds are now occupied by kids less than 10 years."

Doctors and hospital staffers have also told reporters that fuel is running low and internet access is at risk, potentially putting the hospitals in Gaza in further jeopardy.

The World Health Organization said last week that local hospitals in Gaza were at their "breaking point," with fuel "due to run out," shortages of medical supplies, and a focus on "lifesaving emergency care," impacting those who require other "essential health services."

WHO also said they have documented 34 "attacks on health care in Gaza since last Saturday," which killed 11 health workers, injured 16 and damaged 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that one hospital's morgue, which typically holds 30 bodies at a time, had overflown on Thursday, with bodies being stacked on top of each other, some in the parking lot, as a nurse called the site a "graveyard."

Related: 'I Wish I Didn't See What Happened': The Children Killed in the Israel-Hamas Conflict

Adding to the chaos is that, while Israel has called on Palestinians to leave Gaza, Hamas has called for people to stay in Gaza. The group said, according to The Washington Post: “Our Palestinian people reject the threat made by the leaders of the occupation and its call for Gazans to leave their houses and leave to the south or to Egypt.”

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