Israelis and Palestinians Dodge Blame Over Gaza Hospital Strike
For an understanding of the particular ugliness of warfare between Israel and Hamas, look no further than Monday's incident involving a strike on Gaza's Shifa hospital. Both sides are blaming the other for the incident, which killed 10 and injured scores.
For an understanding of the particular ugliness of warfare between Israel and Hamas, look no further than Monday's incident involving a strike on Gaza's Shifa hospital. Both sides are blaming the other for the incident, which killed 10 and injured scores at Gaza's largest hospital.
Explosion at Gaza's Shifa Hospital: Israel says it was caused by Hamas misfire; Hamas says it was an Israeli air strike.
— Gil Shefler (@Gilshefler) July 28, 2014
BREAKING: Israeli air strike lands near Gaza's Shifa hospital http://t.co/OvDY0Iyirt pic.twitter.com/jBx7Q1QEZX
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 28, 2014
And here's how NBC led off the story:
The Israel Defense Forces has issued a statement saying that the Palestinian terror group Islamic Jihad was responsible:
The failed rocket launches which hit the Shifa Hospital and the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip were Islamic Jihad's, Government Coordinator in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai says, according to the Palestinian news agency Ma'an.
A short while ago, terrorists in Gaza fired rockets at Israel. 1 of them hit Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The other hit Al-Shati refugee camp.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 28, 2014
NBC later updated its story, refraining from placing the blame on either side.
Israel's Channel Two:
Channel 2 reports there are “indications” that the explosion in the area of Shifa hospital are the result of Hamas fire.
He says the blast may have been the result of a technical malfunction in an attempt to fire a long-range Fajr-5 rocket at central Israel from Gaza.
Israel has a not-so-illustrious history of striking hospitals and other sites it says are being used to store weapons and/or fire at Israeli troops and cities, such as a recent claim that Hamas fired an anti-tank missile from a UN school.
Meanwhile, rockets fired by Hamas and other groups commonly misfire and fall short, ending up killing Palestinians citizens in Gaza. Here's a video of one such incident: