After visiting the war-torn country and holding a meeting with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday extended support to Israel and firmly stated that the devastating Gaza hospital explosion appeared to be the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza.
Hours after Biden's statement, the White House has now assessed that Israel was not responsible for the bombing.
According to White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson, "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. Our assessment is based on available reporting, including intelligence, missile activity, overhead imagery, and open-source video and images of the incident."
Since the explosion further exacerbated the already war-tirn situation of Gaza Strip, there were conflicting claims about who was the perpetrator, but protests against Israel gained momentum quickly.
Hamas officials in Gaza quickly blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying hundreds were killed.
Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.
