Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Jordan issued official statements condemning Israel for purportedly causing an explosion at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza – despite IDF intel that shows terrorist group PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) was responsible for the strike via a misfired rocket.
The IDF said that it had multiple intelligence sources that had confirmed that Islamic Jihad, and not Israel, were responsible, despite accusations by Hamas and some other countries. A rocket from a large PIJ rocket barrage fired at Israel from Gaza impacted the hospital and caused damage, according to IDF intel. That did not end the calls to blame Israel for the explosion.
The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF.Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 17, 2023
Baseless condemnation against Israel
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the attack on a Gaza hospital was "the latest example of Israel's attacks devoid of the most basic human values."
"I call on all humanity to take action to stop this unprecedented brutality in Gaza," Erdogan wrote on social media platform X.
Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the explosion as a "heinous crime" committed by Israeli forces.
Iran's foreign ministry condemned what they called an Israeli air strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed and injured hundreds of "unarmed and defenseless people," Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.
The United Arab Emirates also condemned "the Israeli attack that targeted Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of people," state news agency WAM reported early on Wednesday.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi joined the chorus of condemnation as well, issuing a statement on Tuesday saying: "I condemn in the strongest of terms Israel's bombardment" on a hospital in Gaza, and calling it a "clear violation of international law."
Jordan's King Abdullah also spoke out, saying the alleged bombing was a "massacre" and a "war crime" that one cannot be silent about.
Abdullah, who blamed the bombing on Israel, said Israel should immediately end its war against the enclave and that its actions against innocent Palestinians were a "shame on humanity".
Qatar's foreign ministry also issued a statement on Tuesday, declaring "The expansion of Israeli attacks over the Gaza Strip to include hospitals, schools, and other population centers is a dangerous escalation."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said early on Wednesday – after IDF intel declared that PIJ was responsible – that targeting Al-Ahli hospital is a "hideous war massacre" that cannot be tolerated, adding that any talks about anything else rather than stopping the war is unacceptable.
"Israel has crossed all red lines. ... We will not leave nor allow anyone to expel us," he added.