Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quickly blamed Israel for a deadly explosion at the Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, despite conflicting reports about who was responsible.
Trudeau called the situation “absolutely unacceptable,” telling reporters that “it’s not legal” to bomb a hospital.
“The news coming out of Gaza is horrific,” the prime minister said, Reuters reports.
“International humanitarian and international law needs to be respected in this and in all cases,” he said.
‘There are rules around wars and it’s not acceptable to hit a hospital.”
Palestinian Health authorities said hundreds of people died in the explosion, which they said resulted from a rocket from Israel.
However, other reports said that the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror organization was responsible for the attack due to misfired rocket, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
The IDF has since released audio, which they claim shows terrorists reacting once they realize their mistake.
Listen:
Islamic Jihad struck a Hospital in Gaza—the IDF did not.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 18, 2023
Listen to the terrorists as they realize this themselves: pic.twitter.com/u7WyU8Rxwz
Following the explosion, Israel critics rushed to blame an Israeli airstrike.
Multiple outlets, including News wires like the Getty Photo Service, published unproven claims Israel had “attack[ed]” the hospital, citing the “Gaza Health Ministry,”
An initial BBC report also laid the blame on Israel.
Of all the misreporting last night, I think this from the BBC is perhaps the most egregious.
— Daniel Sugarman (@Daniel_Sugarman) October 18, 2023
Ignores that an arsenal of varied rockets are fired out of Gaza. Ignores that Iron Dome specifically targets missiles aiming for civilian areas.
Utterly dire.
pic.twitter.com/S1zs4pCdZw
The Irish Times also was quick to blame Israel.
This is the most-read story on the @IrishTimes in the last 12 hours. It says "hundreds still trapped in the rubble" of the bombed hospital.
— John McGuirk (@john_mcguirk) October 18, 2023
But photos this AM show that there is no rubble. The hospital is intact. So how did the Times source this story?https://t.co/rYXLulMB61
Meanwhile, Joe Biden threw his support behind Israel’s account of the strike, telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “it appears as though it was done by the other team.”
But Hamas slammed the comments, saying, “its outrageous lies do not deceive anyone.”
AFP reported that Israel’s Arab allies blamed it for the hospital deaths, despite the military’s denials.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also condemned the “Israeli” attack.
Other countries like Morocco blamed Israel for the strike, as did Egypt.
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