DRONE footage and a wiretapped phone call between two Hamas terrorists are said to "prove" the deadly Gaza hospital explosion was caused by a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket.
Israel released its evidence after vehemently denying responsibility for a catastrophic explosion at the Al-Ahli Hospital that reportedly killed more than 500 people.
Instead, Israel says the fatal blast was the result of a failed rocket launched by Palestinian terrorists.
Two Hamas operatives were allegedly recorded saying the rocket was fired by another Palestinian terror group, Islamic Jihad.
And meanwhile, Israeli TV broadcast footage appeared to show a rocket barrage being fired over the hospital from within the Gaza Strip.
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It comes as US President Joe Biden arrived in Tel Aviv this morning in his most forceful public display of support for Israel since Hamas unleashed its bloodbath in southern Israel on October 7.
But following the tragic hospital explosion, Biden reportedly told Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the blast appeared to have been done "by the other team, not you."
Netanyahu, meanwhile, said: "The barbaric terrorists in Gaza are responsible for the attack on the Gaza hospital, not the IDF.
"The people who brutally murdered our children are murdering their own children too".
Thousands of people were reportedly seeking shelter at the hospital - alongside hundreds of patients and medical staff.
More than 500 innocent civilians were killed in the blast, according to Hamas, although this number has not been verified.
It comes as:
- The strike at the hospital sparked furious protests in Lebanon
- Chilling images show the house where a Brit girl was killed by Hamas
- A Hamas top terror commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike
- Europe is on terror alert after Belgium and France attacks
- The Mum of an Israeli hostage begged the world "help bring my baby home" after sickening video of her in captivity
- Iran warned Israel it will be "eradicated" after pre-emptive strike threat
Israel and Palestine have been trading blame for the explosion, though neither's claim could be independently verified.
But in a shocking retaliation, The Israel Defence Forces released a recording from a wiretapped phone call between two operatives working within the Palestinian militant group.
Posting the clip to X, formerly known as Twitter, they wrote: "Islamic Jihad struck a Hospital in Gaza - the IDF did not.
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"Listen to the terrorists as they realize this themselves".
The intercepted audio recording begins with the first Hamas operative saying: "I'm telling you this is the first time that we see a missile like this falling".
A second militant responds: "And so that's why we are saying it belongs to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad".
The first speaker says: "What?" before the other replies: "They are saying it belongs to Palestinian Islamic Jihad".
"It's from us?" asks the first Hamas operative, and the other responds: "It looks like it!"
As the chilling phone call continues, the second speaker explains that the shrapnel from the rocket missile was "local shrapnel and not like Israeli shrapnel".
After a few seconds of silence, one adds: "But God bless, it couldn't have found another place to explode?"
The recording also allegedly reveals that the deadly rocket was launched from a cemetery a short distance away.
"They shot it coming from the cemetery behind the Al-Ma'amadani Hospital, and it misfired and fell on them," said the first operative.
The pair then discuss the cemetery's location before the second speaker admits to knowing of it.
The recording was one of several pieces of evidence Israel has used to deny its involvement in the hospital blast.
Two hours before the IDF posted the recording, it shared drone footage from the Israeli Air Force that showed the Al-Ahli Hospital before and after the overnight destruction.
"A failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City," the IDF said.
"IAF footage from the area around the hospital before and after the failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization".
The absence of a large crater and the lack of damage to surrounding buildings are said to prove it was not an Israeli air strike.
Israel's Channel 12 published footage which it claimed showed rockets being fired from near the al-Ahli Hospital.
TV anchor Yonit Levy said: “This is proof of Israel’s claims that it was actually missiles from the Gaza Strip shot in the direction of the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City."
This morning, the Israeli army also released aerial photos to "prove" that there were no signs of Israeli planes striking the hospital.
According to IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who briefed the foreign press early today, the army's assessment is based on "intelligence information from several sources."
He went on to say: "From the analysis of the IDF's operational systems, an enemy rocket barrage was launched towards Israel and passed in the vicinity of the hospital when it was hit.
"Intelligence from a few sources that we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza.
"I repeat this is the responsibility of Islamic jihad that killed innocents in the hospital in Gaza."
Also posted by the IDF was a video showing a rocket misfiring in Gaza - reportedly at the same time the hospital was stuck.
The video shows a rocket exploding in the air before hurtling towards the ground.
"A rocket aimed at Israel misfired and exploded at 18.59 — the same moment a hospital was hit in Gaza," the IDF wrote on X.
It's unclear what exactly was hit by the misfired rocket in the video.
IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told CNN that Israel "categorically" does not intentionally strike any sensitive facilities - including hospitals.
"We did not strike that, and the intelligence that we have suggests that it was a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad," he said.
Horror footage from the hospital showed the blaze engulfing the building, with the hospital's grounds littered with bodies, many of them young children.
Blood-soaked sheets covering a huge pile of victims could be seen across what was left of the hospital's grounds, as witnesses say the "smell of bodies" now hangs in the air.
"The hospital was full of dead and wounded, dismembered bodies, and dead," said Dr Fadel Naim, Head of the hospital's Orthopedic Surgery Department.
In a chilling account posted to Facebook, Dr Abu Sittah wrote: "We now know that the number of killed exceeds 500.
"This number will increase as I saw many dismembered bodies and parts of bodies as I carried the last patient into the ambulance past the courtyard.
"The number of children who were killed exceeds 50 per cent.
"I saw a body of a toddler who was missing a head".
But while Israel and Palestine continue to play the blame game, Hamas has denied any involvement in the rocket launch that caused this tragedy.
A spokesman for Islamic Jihad said this is "completely incorrect" and accused the IDF of "trying to cover for the horrifying crime and massacre they committed".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said early this morning that targeting the Al-Ahli Hospital was a "hideous war massacre" that cannot be tolerated.
"Israel has crossed all red lines. ... We will not leave nor allow anyone to expel us from there", he added.
