(CP) The state of Israel is "not responsible" for a deadly explosion at an Anglican hospital in Gaza that Palestinians say killed 471 people, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
A statement from White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the assessment was based on several factors, including data from "overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information."
Earlier Wednesday, during a visit to Israel amid ongoing tensions following the surprise Hamas attack on Oct. 7, President Joe Biden echoed official statements from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and said the airstrike Tuesday on the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza appeared to be linked to an "errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza."
Biden added that U.S. defense officials provided "data" proving Israel wasn't behind the attack, which he later told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he believes was "done by the other team, not you," The Washington Post reports, adding that the administration's claims have not immediately been verified. No additional details were provided.
Hamas and Israel are pointing fingers at each other for the hospital explosion, with Hamas blaming an Israeli airstrike.
On Monday, an Anglican-run news service reported an "Israeli rocket" severely damaged two floors of the al-Ahli Hospital's cancer treatment center, which includes ultrasound and mammography wards. Four hospital staff were reportedly injured in the attack.
"The Diagnostic Centre is the Crown Jewel of Ahli Hospital, providing cancer diagnosis as a prelude to various treatment options both at Ahli and in other facilities," Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem Hosam Naoum said in a statement. "Next month, we were due to open a new chemotherapy centre there in partnership with Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives — a principal reason for our visit to the hospital last week.
"Please continue to pray for the safety of the hospital, its staff, and the patients and refugees who are being housed there," he added.
Founded in 1882 and with roughly 3,500 outpatient visits per month at its 80-bed facility, the al-Ahli Hospital is the "only independent, Christian-led medical facility" in Gaza, according to The Post.
The hospital — which the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem runs — also serves approximately 300 surgery patients and 600 radiological visits per month and offers a free program for early detection of breast cancer for women 40 and up.
Its mission is to "glorify God and bear witness to His love as manifested in the life of Jesus Christ" by healthcare services to its interfaith neighbors "without prejudice to any religious or ethnic community and irrespective of social class, gender and political affiliation."
In response to the rocket attack, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem released a statement Tuesday that condemned the "criminal attack" on al-Ahli Hospital.
"This heart-wrenching crime occurred on a day when the Christian community had convened in earnest prayer, beseeching the heavens for peace, reconciliation, and the cessation of the war in Gaza," the statement read.
Quoting Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit," the statement further described the attack as "the horrifying shattering of sanctuary of compassion and healing in Gaza, culminating in the tragic loss of hundreds of innocent lives."
Israel and the surrounding Mideast region have been engulfed by violence after Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people and wounding more than 3,400. Hamas is also holding up to 200 people hostage, some of whom are Americans.
Israeli forces claim over 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in the attack.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes that it said were aimed at Hamas infrastructure and locations in Gaza where the terrorists hide out.
Prior to the hospital explosion, the Gaza health ministry said that as many as 2,700 people had been killed and over 9,000 injured in Gaza after Israel began retaliatory airstrikes.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement Sunday that at least 30 Americans have been killed in Israel and at least 13 are missing.
