France’s Military Intelligence Agency: Palestinian Rocket Likely Cause of Explosion at Gaza Hospital
France’s military intelligence agency, the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM), has concluded that a misfiring Palestinian rocket was the most likely cause of the deadly explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. This comes as both Israel and Palestinian officials continue to trade blame over the blast.
The DRM announced on Friday that their assessment pointed to an errant Palestinian rocket, carrying an explosive charge of about 5kg, as the likely cause of the explosion. They stated that none of their intelligence indicated an Israeli missile strike. A senior French military official explained that the size of the blast and the impact crater were consistent with rockets used by Palestinians, and the size of the crater was too small to have been caused by an Israeli missile.
Although the DRM did not provide an estimated death toll, they suggested it was likely lower than the 471 fatalities reported by Palestinian officials. The assessment was made based on classified information, satellite imagery, intelligence shared by other countries, and open-source information. Images showing light structural damage at the hospital and relatively few civilian belongings at the blast site also contributed to the evaluation.
French President Emmanuel Macron instructed the typically secretive DRM to publicly disclose their findings due to the conflicting narratives surrounding the attack.
This assessment by French intelligence adds to the growing number of claims and counterclaims surrounding the hospital blast, which has spurred protests across the Middle East. Palestinian officials have blamed the explosion on an Israeli airstrike, while Israel has attributed it to a rocket fired by the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who denied responsibility.
Al Jazeera’s investigation, based on video footage, has also challenged Israeli statements that a flash captured in a live news broadcast indicated a misfiring rocket hitting the hospital.
The United States’s National Security Council previously stated that their “current assessment” was that Israel was not responsible for the explosion. Gaza’s health ministry reported 471 fatalities, a number Israel claimed had been intentionally exaggerated. However, US intelligence agencies estimated the death toll to be between 100 and 300 people.
As the conflicting accounts persist, the United Nations has called for an independent investigation into the explosion. The UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, emphasized the need for accountability and stated, “There is a clear need for an investigation, an independent investigation into what happened.”