'He is a liar': UN Palestinian envoy on Netanyahu's 'Islamic Jihad responsible for Gaza hospital attack' claim

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour on Wednesday said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that Islamic Jihad was responsible for the Gaza hospital attack is a complete lie and blamed Israel for the incident which killed at least 500 people.

#WATCH | On Israeli PM Netanyahu's statement that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the Gaza hospital attack, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour says "He is a liar. His digital spokesperson tweeted that Israel did the hit thinking that there was a base for Hamas… pic.twitter.com/Tqs19lc2VD

— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2023

Addressing the reporters on Tuesday, Mansour said, “He (Netanyahu) is a liar. His digital spokesperson tweeted that Israel did the hit thinking that there was a base for Hamas around this hospital, and then he deleted that tweet. We have a copy of that tweet… Now they changed the story to try to blame the Palestinians.” He said that the Israeli spokesperson of the Army had made a statement in which ordered evacuation of hospitals. “Their intention is to evacuate or hospitals will be hit and they are responsible for that crime and they cannot fabricate stories to deal with it,” added Mansour. On Tuesday, a massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter, killing at least 500 people. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants. The explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital left gruesome scenes. A video posted by The Associated Press showed fire engulfing the building and the hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. The grass around them was strewn with blankets, school backpacks and other belongings. The bloodshed unfolded as the US tried to convince Israel to allow the delivery of supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals in the tiny Gaza Strip, which has been under a complete siege since Hamas’ deadly rampage in southern Israel last week. Hundreds of thousands of increasingly desperate people were searching for bread and water. Hamas called Tuesday’s hospital blast “a horrific massacre,” saying it was caused by an Israeli strike. The Israeli military blamed Islamic Jihad, a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often works with Hamas. The military said Islamic Jihad militants had fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital and that “intelligence from multiple sources” indicated the group was responsible. In a briefing with reporters, the chief army spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the army determined there were no air force, ground or naval attacks in the area at the time of the blast. He said radar detected outgoing rocket fire at the same moment, and intercepted communications between militant groups indicated that Islamic Jihad fired the rockets. Hagari also shared aerial footage collected by a military drone that showed a blast that he said was inconsistent with Israeli weaponry. He said the explosion occurred in the building’s parking lot. Since the war began, the military said in a statement that roughly 450 rockets fired at Israel by militant groups had landed in Gaza, “endangering and harming the lives of Gazan residents.” Islamic Jihad dismissed those claims, accusing Israel of “trying hard to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.” The group pointed to Israel’s order that Al-Ahli be evacuated and its previous bombing of the hospital complex as proof that the hospital was an Israeli target. It also said the scale of the explosion, the angle of the bomb’s fall and the extent of the destruction all pointed to Israel. Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in al-Ahli and other hospitals in Gaza City in past days, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip. With inputs from agencies