US govt assessment shows Israel not responsible for Gaza hospital blast: White House

The United States assessed that Israel was not responsible for the attack on a Gaza hospital a day earlier, the White House said on Wednesday.

“The US government assesses that Israel was not responsible for an explosion that killed hundreds of civilians yesterday at the Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip,” White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

“Our assessment is based on available reporting, including intelligence, missile activity, overhead imagery, and open-source video and images of the incident,” she said.

Citing intelligence reports, Watson said some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

“As the President said earlier today, the explosion appears to be the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza — and we are continuing to work to corroborate whether it was a failed PIJ rocket,” she said. (PTI)