Missile That Hit Near Gaza Hospital Was a Jihadist Misfire: Intelligence Reports

The IDF did not conduct any operations in the area at the time of the impact. – Israel Defense Forces

A missile that struck a hospital on Tuesday inside Gaza City was launched by terrorists from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

A spokesman for Islamic Jihad has said that the rocket strike was launched by Israel.

The rocket hit the hospital on Tuesday evening local time, after the IDF repeatedly warned local residents to flee the city and head south, in advance of an expected ground offensive. 

“On October 17, at around 1900, the PIJ fired a missile salvo toward Israel,” the IDF said. “One of the missiles misfired, landing on the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, causing severe damage, killing at least several Palestinians and injuring many more.”

“The IDF did not conduct any operations in the area at the time of the impact,” the IDF said.

READ MORE: Hamas stops people from fleeing Gaza

“Following an analysis by the IDF’s operational systems, a barrage of rockets was launched toward Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit,” the IDF wrote on X/Twitter. “According to intelligence information from a number of sources we have, Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is responsible for the failed rocket launch that hit the hospital.”

A live feed from the Al Jazeera news outlet appears to show a rocket misfiring after being launched from inside Gaza.

Missile misfires are common among terrorist crews, according to a U.S. Army intelligence source.

The crews are “trained to fire the missiles for impact, but they are not skilled at precision,” the source told Soldier of Fortune.

The missiles are launched from sites that place civilians at high risk, according to the IDF.

“The terror organizations in the Gaza Strip deliberately placed their launching pits and posts within civilian territory, placing civilians directly under the line of fire, making them especially vulnerable to misfires,” the IDF said. “This has been a trend over the last few rounds of conflict where PJ misfires have posed an extreme danger to civilians in Gaza.”

In response, Palestine’s president Mahmoud Abbas cancelled a scheduled meeting in Jordan with U.S. President Joe Biden.